CARDINAL  MERCIER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


Gift    Of 
William  Daly 


CARDINAL    MERCIER 

T^astorals,  Jitters ^  'Allocutions 
1914-1917 


CARDINAL    MERCIER 

Tastoralsy  JTetterSy  Allocutions 
1914-1917 

WITH  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 
AND  FOREWORD 

BY 

REV.  JOSEPH   F.   STILLEMANS 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE    BELGIAN   RELIEF    FUND 


NEW  YORK 

P.  J.   KENEDY   &   SONS 

1917 


COPYRIGHT,    1917 
BY    P.    J.    KENEDY    &    SONS 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK  PAGE 

Foreword vii 

Cardinal  Mercier,  Biographical  Sketch  ...  xi 

I.     Patriotism  and  Endurance i 

II.    An  Appeal  to  Truth 37 

III.  My  Return  from  Rome 95 

IV.  For  Our  Soldiers iii 

V.    The  Voice  of  God 123 

VI.    Belgium  Enslaved 145 

yil.    Courage,  My  Brethren! 197 

VIII.    Christian  Vengeance 219 


FOREWORD 

A  THREEFOLD  purpose  has  prompted  the 
edition  of  this  book.  First  of  all  to  give 
the  American  people  an  opportunity  of  reading 
and  keeping  within  reach  the  principal  writings 
and  utterances  of  the  heroic  Belgian  Cardinal 
from  the  time  of  Belgium's  invasion  up  to  the 
present  day.  True,  the  American  people  have 
an  unbounded  admiration  for  Cardinal  Mercier. 
His  figure  loomed  up  as  that  of  a  giant  the  day 
he  issued  his  Pastoral  on  "Patriotism  and  En- 
durance," openly  accusing  and  defying  the  in- 
vader. It  is  perhaps  safe  to  say  that  the  majority 
of  those  who  read  at  all  in  America  have  read 
the  first  Pastoral  of  the  Cardinal,  but  few  have 
read  his  further  writings  and  discourses.  These, 
although  they  have  not  made  the  same  impres- 
sion upon  the  world  at  large,  are  equally  energetic 
and  noble  and  put  forth  the  Cardinal  as  the  "great 
man"  of  Belgium,  in  turn  protesting  energetically, 
tenderly  encouraging  and  wisely  enlightening. 
Cardinal  Mercier  did  not  deem  his  duty  fulfilled 
after  his  first  protest  against  the  German  invasion 
and  the  barbarous  methods  of  the  Germans. 
Since  then  he  has  not  ceased  to  speak,  condemn- 
ing repeatedly  the  various  kinds  of  cruelty  and 


Vlll  FOREWORD 

atrocity  a  tragically  inventive  mind  continues 
to  produce.  Thus  he  lifts  up  his  voice  "For 
Those  in  Captivity,"  protesting  against  the  en- 
slavement of  the  Belgians  by  the  horrifying  sys- 
tem of  deportations.  When  the  Germans  not 
only  deny  any  and  all  atrocities  on  their  part, 
but,  cynically  humoristic,  turn  the  tables  and 
accuse  the  Belgians  of  the  most  abominable 
crimes,  he  sends  forth  a  protest  as  forceful  as 
conclusive,  and  inasmuch  as  these  accusations 
are  directed  especially  against  the  Belgian  priests, 
he  makes  "An  Appeal  to  Truth"  in  a  "Letter 
to  the  Bishops  of  Germany,  Bavaria,  and  Austria- 
Hungary."  Or  he  strives  to  keep  up  the  courage 
of  the  people  by  means  of  his  Pastorals — "My 
Return  from  Rome,"  "Courage,  my  Brethren," 
and  "The  Voice  of  God."  Undaunted  by  fear, 
he  speaks  to  his  people  of  their  great  and  good 
King,  of  the  heroism  of  their  absent  army,  ad- 
dressing them  "For  Our  Soldiers."  Courage, 
however,  is  not  sufficient,  nay,  it  is  often  blind. 
Belgium  needs  direction  and  hght.  Are  not  the 
subtile  German  doctors  and  the  longheaded 
German  professors  trying  to  upset  the  Belgian 
mind  and  conscience?  In  vain  do  they  labor. 
There  is  one  watching,  one  always  on  duty;  and 
taking  as  his  subject  several  Christian  virtues,  but 
especially  "Christian  Vengeance,"  he  will  speak 
to  the  priests  of  Belgium  and  through  the  priests 
to   the    entire    Belgian    nation;    pointing  out    to 


FOREWORD  IX 

them  straightforwardly  and  plainly  their  duties 
under  the  sorrowful  circumstances  of  to-day,  and 
showing  them  what  must  be  their  attitude  and 
their  behavior  toward  the  unjust  and  cruel, 
though  mighty,  oppressor. 

The  second  purpose  of  this  edition  is  to  give 
the  reader  a  more  thorough  insight  into  the  con- 
ditions prevailing  in  Belgium.  The  reading  of 
Cardinal  Mercier's  letters  and  allocutions  creates 
in  one's  mind  a  perfectly  clear  picture  of  the 
situation  in  Belgium,  and  vivid  images  of  the 
different  episodes  of  the  awful  tragedy  of  which 
that  unfortunate  country  is  the  innocent  victim. 
It  renders  one  familiar  with  the  treatment  meted 
out  to  the  Belgians,  as  well  as  with  the  state  of 
mind  of  the  people  in  Belgium.  Poor  country, 
you  will  say,  appalling  are  your  sufferings, 
heartrending  your  sorrows!  And  still,  blessed 
country!  blessed  in  your  glory!  blessed  in 
your  courage!  blessed  not  least  in  your  noble 
son  and  heroic  leader,  your  immortal  Cardinal 
Mercier! 

Finally,  this  book  is  edited  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  financial  assistance  for  Cardinal  Mercier. 
From  every  corner  of  Belgium,  from  the  ruins  of 
castles  and  from  the  burned-down  huts,  appeals 
reach  him  every  day.  Thousands  of  people 
whom  he  knows  personally  and  thousands  of 
others  beg  him  for  a  little  assistance.  Should 
we  not  try  to  make  it  possible  for  him  to  answer 


X  FOREWORD 

these  appeals  at  least  in  a  measure?  Whenever 
permitted  by  the  enemy,  he  goes  out  personally 
from  house  to  house  in  city  and  in  hamlet.  Should 
we  not  fill  his  hand  so  that  he  may  be  our  alms- 
giver  on  his  journeys  of  charity?  P.  J.  Kenedy 
&  Sons  allow  a  very  liberal  royalty  on  this  edi- 
tion. This  royalty  goes  to  Cardinal  Mercier  in 
its  integrity.  May  I  not  appeal  to  you  person- 
ally, dear  reader?  Shall  your  admiration  for  the 
great  Belgian  Cardinal  confine  itself  to  verba  et 
voces?  No;  that  would  not  be  American!  You 
will  send  a  contribution  in  accordance  with  your 
means  to:  Miss  Marie  La  Montagne,  Treasurer 
of  the  Cardinal  Mercier  Fund,  431  West  47th  St., 
New  York,  or  to:  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  23  Wall  St., 
New  York,  Depositary  for  Cardinal  Mercier  Fund. 

Rev.  J.  F.  Stillemans 

President,  Belgian  Relief  Fund^  New  York 


CARDINAL  MERCIER 

THE    PHILOSOPHER  —  THE    BISHOP  —  THE    MAN 

I  AM  not  writing  a  eulogy  of  Cardinal  Mercier. 
I  do  not  feel  equal  to  such  a  task.  Further- 
more, what  need  is  there  of  pointing  out  the  glo- 
rious brilliancy  of  the  sun?  My  purpose  is  merely 
to  satisfy  the  legitimate  demands  of  the  reader 
by  giving  a  short  biographical  notice  and  a  few 
facts  concerning  Cardinal  Mercier,  the  philosopher, 
the  bishop,  the  man. 

The  attempted  sketch  will  be  quite  inexhaus- 
tive  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  present  state 
of  affairs,  which  makes  it  impossible  to  lay  one's 
hands  on  or  to  verify  a  great  many  facts. 

Desire  Cardinal  Mercier  is  sixty-six  years  of 
age,  being  born  on  November  22,  185 1,  at  Braine- 
TAlleud,  a  village  adjoining  the  historic  bat- 
tlefield of  Waterloo.  He  is  a  descendant  of  one 
of  those  typically  Belgian  families:  honest,  sim- 
ple, and  above  all  deeply  religious,  whose  pride  it 
is  to  see  their  sons  ascend  the  sacred  steps  of 
the  altar.  A  maternal  uncle  of  the  Cardinal,  the 
Very  Rev.  Adrian  J.  Croquet,  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  great  pioneer  missionaries  in 
America  and   his  name  will   forever   be   held  in 


XU  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

veneration  in  the  Oregon  missions,  where  he  is 
commonly  referred  to  as  "The  Saint  of  Oregon." 
Born  at  Braine-l'Alleud,  Hke  the  Cardinal  him- 
self, in  1818,  Adrian  J.  Croquet  was  ordained  a 
priest  at  Malines  in  1844.  After  having  been 
a  professor  at  Basse  Wavre  and  later  assistant 
pastor  in  his  native  place,  he  came  to  Oregon 
in  1859,  and  from  i860  until  1898  remained  in 
charge  of  the  missions  of  the  Grandronde  Reserva- 
tion in  that  State.  The  last  four  years  of  his  Hfe 
he  spent  with  his  relatives  in  Belgium,  and  de- 
parted from  this  world  on  August  8,  1902.  Car- 
dinal Mercier  has  undoubtedly  inherited  the  zeal 
and  sanctity  of  his  uncle,  whom  he  also  resembles 
very  much  physically. 

Having  completed  the  regular  course  of  studies 
at  St.  Rombaut's  College  of  Mahnes  and  at  the 
diocesan  seminary  of  the  same  place.  Desire 
Mercier  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  on  April  4, 
1874.  He  then  studied  theology  at  the  old  Uni- 
versity of  Louvain  —  that  famous  center  of 
learning  now  so  sorely  afflicted  —  until  he  was 
appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Philosophy  of  the  semi- 
nary of  Malines  in  1877.  In  1882  he  was  called 
to  Louvain  to  become  Professor  of  Philosophy. 
In  1886  Pope  Leo  XIII  appointed  him  a  domestic 
prelate,  which  appointment  gave  Father  Mercier 
the  right  to  the  title  of  Monsignor.  Long  before 
he  became  a  Cardinal,  Professor  Mercier  occupied 
no  mean  position  in  the  world  of  philosophy  and 


CARDINAL   MERCIER  XUl 

science.  Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  the 
Catholic  University  of  America  was  established  at 
Washington,  Monsignor  Keane  went  so  far  as  to 
entreat  Leo  XIII  to  prevail  upon  Professor  Mercier 
to  give  the  benefit  of  his  talent  and  zeal  to  the 
American  Catholic  University.  Leo  XIII,  how- 
ever, did  not  want  to  deprive  Louvain  of  its 
great  son,  and  when  this  learned  Pope  desired  to 
renew  the  interest  of  the  world  in  Thomistic  or 
Scholastic,  or,  more  correctly,  "Neo-Scholastic" 
philosophy,  a  special  chair  was  erected  at  the 
University  of  Louvain  by  the  Bishops  of  Belgium, 
and  Professor  Mercier  was  made  its  incumbent. 
In  a  few  years  he  built  up  the  worldwide  known 
"Higher  Institute  of  Philosophy." 

Neo-Scholasticism  is  the  development,  not 
merely  the  resuscitation,  of  the  Scholasticism  of 
the  Middle  Ages  of  which  St.  Thomas  Aquinas 
was  the  great  exponent.  It  is  a  philosophy  es- 
sentially based  on  science,  modern  science,  fol- 
lowed up  in  every  avenue  of  investigation;  and 
whilst  its  principles  are  those  of  Aristotle  and 
Thomas,  its  chief  concern,  however,  is  with  the 
present  day's  systems.  The  synthetic  explanation 
of  phenomena,  which  it  provides,  presupposes 
a  complete  knowledge  of  the  details  furnished  by 
each  science.  Newman  very  thoroughly  explains 
this  in  his  "Idea  of  a  University":  "The  com- 
prehension of  the  bearings  of  one  science  on 
another,  the  use  of  each  to  each,  and  the  location 


XIV  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

of  them  all,  with  one  another,  —  this  belongs,  I 
conceive,  to  a  sort  of  Science  of  Sciences,  which  is 
my  conception  of  what  is  meant  by  philosophy.'* 

Monsignor  Mercier  was  not  only  a  torch-bearer 
in  modern  philosophy,  —  he  was  essentially  a 
teacher,  a  professor.  Those  who  studied  under 
him  can  never  forget  him.  How  clear  his  doc- 
trines were,  how  complete  his  teachings,  how 
convincing  his  arguments!  Professor  Mercier 
was  not  satisfied  by  merely  giving  lectures  to 
the  body  of  students  as  a  whole;  he  had  his  eye 
on  every  individual  and  would  make  it  a  point 
to  influence  each  one  personally.  He  soon  dis- 
covered the  talented  worker  among  his  students, 
and  such  a  one  he  would  encourage  and  guide 
on  to  private,  deeper  study.  The  result  of  this 
has  been  that  Belgium's  great  school  of  philos- 
ophy to-day  might  well  be  called  the  "Disciples 
of  Mercier." 

Mercier's  "Psychology"  and  "Logic,"  as  well 
as  his  "Criteriology,"  are  to  be  found  in  every 
philosopher's  Hbrary  and  translated  in  all  the 
leading  languages.  A  few  months  ago  there 
appeared  the  first  volume  of  Mercier's  "A  Manual 
*  of  Modern  Scholastic  Philosophy,"  edited  by 
Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Trubner  &  Co.,  Ltd., 
London,  and  B.  Herder,  St.  Louis. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1906,  his  Eminence 
Cardinal  Goossens,  Archbishop  of  MaHnes,  went 
to  his  reward.    Monsignor  Mercier  pronounced  the 


CARDINAL   MERCIER  XV 

panegyric.  Upon  returning  from  the  Cathedral 
after  the  funeral,  his  colleague,  Professor  Joseph 
Sencie,  told  Monsignor  Mercier  that  he  would 
be  Cardinal  Goossens'  successor.  This  prophecy 
provoked  a  hearty  laugh  on  the  part  of  Monsignor 
Mercier.  Nevertheless,  it  was  soon  to  be  ful- 
filled when,  on  February  21,  Monsignor  Mercier 
was  appointed  as  Cardinal  Goossens'  succes- 
sor. Professor  Mercier's  reputation  as  a  phi- 
losopher was  so  great,  and  the  work  he  had 
accomplished  so  splendid  and  far-reaching,  that 
in  some  q*uarters  the  opinion  was  expressed  that 
such  a  man  should  not  be  taken  away  from  his 
study  and  Hfe  work  and  intrusted  with  the 
active  care  of  a  diocese.  Professor  Mercier  him- 
self held  that  opinion,  as  he  sincerely  stated  in 
his  farewell  speech  to  the  University  of  Louvain. 
However,  there  was  but  little  need  to  fear.  It 
soon  became  evident  that  Cardinal  Mercier's 
master-mind  could  easily  conquer  a  new  field  of 
activity.  He  at  once  showed  himself  conversant 
with  every  detail  of  the  compHcated  administra- 
tion of  his  great  diocese,  and  soon  succeeded  in 
winning  the  admiration  and  love  of  priest  and 
layman  ahke.  Knowing  full  well  that  the 
Catholic  people  are  what  the  priests  make  them  — 
or,  more  correctly,  what  the  priests  are  them- 
selves —  Cardinal  Mercier  considers  it  his  most 
sacred  duty  to  labor  for  the  highest  possible  up- 
lifting of  his  clergy,  and  takes  special  delight  in 


XVI  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

preaching  theological  conferences  and  retreats 
for  his  priests  and  seminarians.  Two  volumes 
have  been  published  and  translated  into  English: 
"A  mes  Seminaristes"  and  "Retraite  Pastorale." 
In  these  conferences,  as  well  as  in  all  the  writings 
of  the  Cardinal,  one  may  equally  admire  the  ele- 
gance and  simplicity  of  style  and  the  thorough- 
ness and  loftiness  of  thought. 

The  Cardinal  is  at  the  head  of  an  immense 
diocese  in  which  there  are  not  fewer  than  2,500,000 
Catholics,  divided  into  close  to  800  parishes. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  how  laborious  the 
administration  of  such  a  diocese  must  be  and  how 
many  problems  are  to  be  solved  every  day.  As 
an  administrator,  Cardinal  Mercier  is  progres- 
sive and  modern  —  always  ready  to  accept  healthy 
reforms  and  energetic  in  obtaining  results.  Though 
fortiter  in  re  he  never  fails  to  be  suaviter  in  modo. 

The  Pastoral  Letter  of  Cardinal  Mercier  on 
"Patriotism  and  Endurance"  has  gone  down  in 
history  as  the  greatest  document  of  the  present 
European  war. 

Those  familiar  with  the  ecclesiastical  history 
of  Belgium  were  not  surprised  at  hearing  the 
voice  of  Belgium's  Cardinal  on  this  occasion. 
The  Bishops  of  Belgium  throughout  the  centuries 
have  been  liberty's  first  champions  and  patriotism's 
greatest  heralds.  Cardinal  Frankenberg  resisted 
in  turn  Austria,  France,  and  Prussia,  and  died 
in  exile.     The  famous  Bishop  of  Ghent,  Prince 


CARDINAL    MERCIER  XVU 

de  Broglie,  energetically  opposed  Napoleon  the 
Great,  and  later  on,  William,  the  King  of  Holland, 
and  he  also  died  in  exile.  Both  these  prelates 
withstood  the  foreign  oppressor  to  his  face,  and 
neither  imprisonment  nor  exile  could  deter  them 
from  their  duty.  Frankenberg  issued  his  "Decla- 
ration" and  de  BrogHe  his  "Pastoral."  These 
two  documents  may  well  be  put  in  a  class  with 
Cardinal  Mercier's  famous  letter. 

It  has  long  been  the  custom  of  the  Belgian 
Bishops  to  write  yearly  pastorals  on  the  leading 
questions  and  great  problems  of  the  day.  No 
hbrary  contains  greater  learning,  deeper  thought, 
or  more  wisdom  than  the  collection  of  these 
documents.  It  was  eminently  proper,  therefore, 
that  in  this,  the  greatest  hour  of  sorrow  for  Bel- 
gium, the  voice  of  Cardinal  Mercier  should  be 
heard.  Catholic  Belgium,  nay  everybody  in 
Belgium,  looked  to  him  for  Hght  and  encourage- 
ment. 

Cardinal  Mercier  is  a  wonderful  man  —  familiar 
with  the  greatest  problems,  yet  concerned  with 
the  smallest  details;  honored  as  few  men  have 
been,  yet  simple  as  a  child;  working  from  early 
morning  until  far  into  the  night,  yet  always  hav- 
ing time  to  listen  to  everyone.  He  is  known  to 
the  whole  of  Belgium  as  a  living  saint  —  kindness 
and  readiness  personified.  Whatever  he  does  he 
does  well,  because  into  whatever  he  does  he  puts 
every  fiber  of  his  great  heart.     At  the  altar   he 


XVlll  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

is  a  saint;  in  private  conversation,  a  father;  in 
the  pulpit,  a  warm,  convincing  orator;  in  all 
difficult  situations,  a  wise  counselor  and  a  safe 
guide.  A  man  of  action  is  Cardinal  Mercier, 
placing  his  confidence  in  Divine  Providence 
above  all  things,  true  enough,  but  realizing  the 
need  of  cooperation  and  work  on  the  part  of  man- 
Cardinal  Mercier  never  knew  how  to  spare 
himself.  As  early  as  8  o'clock  people  of  all  classes 
in  society  begin  to  gather  in  the  Cardinal's  ante- 
room. There  the  aristocrat  and  the  laborer,  the 
noble  dame  and  the  poor  girl,  meet  on  equal 
terms.  All  are  admitted  to  his  presence,  and  the 
whole  day  is  taken  up  in  listening  to  those  visitors, 
who  are  received  exactly  in  the  order  of  their 
arrival.  Some  will  come  to  confer  with  the 
Cardinal  on  most  important  questions,  others 
bring  the  most  trivial  suggestions,  others  again 
will  come  for  personal  advice  and  consolation, 
but  all  are  received  with  the  same  fatherly  kind- 
ness and  leave  his  presence 'wiser  and  stronger 
and  happier. 

On  days  not  occupied  by  this  tedious  reception 
of  all  classes  of  people,  the  Cardinal  visits  every 
part  of  his  immense  diocese.  A  few  years  ago  the 
Cardinal  was  driving  in  his  automobile  from 
Malines  to  Antwerp.  A  httle  child  was  crossing 
the  road  in  front  of  the  automobile.  The  Car- 
dinal, upon  noticing  the  danger  to  the  child, 
lost  no  time  in  shouting  to  his  chauffeur  to  turn 


CARDINAL    MERCIER  XIX 

the  machine  on  to  the  wall  alongside  the  road, 
with  the  result  that  he  was  violently  thrown  out  of 
the  automobile  and  severely  injured.  His  face 
to-day  bears  the  marks  of  this  accident,  and  he 
has  often  been  heard  to  say  how  much  better  it 
was  for  him  to  have  met  with  this  accident  than 
to  have  had  the  slightest  injury  befall  the  little 
child. 

Cardinal  Mercier  is  tall,  very  tall,  and  very 
slender.  He  has  the  aspect  of  an  ascetic,  and  not 
only  has  he  the  aspect  thereof,  but  he  leads  the 
life  of  an  ascetic  —  simple,  even  severe.  The 
eyes  are  the  image  of  the  soul.  The  Cardinal  has 
wonderful  eyes,  which  bespeak  the  greatest  kind- 
ness and  yet  pierce  you  through  and  through.  In 
his  conversation  he  is  so  essentially  human,  so 
very  much  interested  in  you,  so  anxious  to  help 
you  and  please  you. 

Cardinal  Mercier  has  inscribed  on  his  coat-of- 
arms  the  words  "Apostolus  Jesu  Christi."  He 
meant  undoubtedly  that  it  is  his  desire  to  labor 
as  the  apostles  have  labored.  History  will  pro- 
claim that  he  has  been  an  apostle  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  and  will  compare  him  with  St.  Paul, 
with  whom  he  may  say,  "I  have  fought  a  good 
fight.  ...  I  have  kept  the  faith.  .  .  .  There  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  justice.  .  .  ."  This 
crown  of  justice,  which  is  one  also  of  glory,  the 
world  has  even  now  placed  upon  the  noble  brow 
of  Cardinal  Mercier. 


I 

PATRIOTISM  AND  ENDURANCE 


I 

PATRIOTISM  AND  ENDURANCE 
christmas,  i914 
My  very  dear  Brethren 

T  CANNOT  tell  you  how  instant  and  how 
-'■  present  the  thought  of  you  has  been  to  me 
throughout  the  months  of  suffering  and  of  mourn- 
ing through  which  we  have  passed.  I  had  to 
leave  you  abruptly  on  the  20th  of  August  in  order 
to  fulfil  my  last  duty  towards  the  beloved  and 
venerated  Pope  whom  we  have  lost,  and  in 
order  to  discharge  an  obligation  of  the  conscience 
from  which  I  could  not  dispense  myself,  in  the 
election  of  the  successor  of  Pius  the  Tenth,  the 
Pontiff  who  now  directs  the  Church  under  the 
title,  full  of  promise  and  of  hope,  of  Benedict 
the  Fifteenth. 

It  was  in  Rome  itself  that  I  received  the  tidings 
—  stroke  after  stroke  —  of  the  partial  destruction 
of  the  Cathedral  church  of  Louvain,  next  of  the 
burning  of  the  Library  and  of  the  scientific 
installations  of  our  great  University  and  of  the 
devastation  of  the  city,  and  next  of  the  wholesale 
shooting  of  citizens,  and  tortures  inflicted  upon 

3 


4  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

women  and  children,  and  upon  unarmed  and 
undefended  men.  And  while  I  was  still  under 
the  shock  of  these  calamities  the  telegraph  brought 
us  news  of  the  bombardment  of  our  beautiful 
metropolitan  church,  of  the  church  of  Notre 
Dame  au  dela  la  Dyle,  of  the  episcopal  palace, 
and  of  a  great  part  of  our  dear  city  of  Mahnes. 

Afar  from  my  diocese,  without  means  of  com- 
munication with  you^  I  was  compelled  to  lock  my 
grief  within  my  own  afflicted  heart,  and  to  carry 
it,  with  the  thought  of  you,  which  never  left 
me,  to  the  foot  of  the  Crucifix. 

I  craved  courage  and  light,  and  sought  them  in 
such  thoughts  as  these:  A  disaster  has  visited 
the  world,  and  our  beloved  little  Belgium,  a  nation 
so  faithful  in  the  great  mass  of  her  population 
to  God,  so  upright  in  her  patriotism,  so  noble 
in  her  King  and  Government,  is  the  first  sufferer. 
She  bleeds;  her  sons  are  stricken  down  within 
her  fortresses  and  upon  her  fields,  in  defense  of 
her  rights  and  of  her  territory.  Soon  there  will 
not  be  one  Belgian  family  not  in  mourning.  Why 
all  this  sorrow,  my  God?  Lord,  Lord,  hast  Thou 
forsaken  us?  Then  I  looked  upon  the  Crucifix. 
I  looked  upon  Jesus,  most  gentle  and  humble 
Lamb  of  God,  crushed,  clothed  in  His  blood  as 
in  a  garment,  and  I  thought  I  heard  from  His 
own  mouth  the  words  which  the  Psalmist  uttered 
in  His  name:  "O  God,  my  God,  look  upon  me; 
why   hast   Thou   forsaken   me?     O   my   God,    I 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  5 

shall  cry,  and  Thou  wilt  not  hear."  And  forth- 
with the  murmur  died  upon  my  Hps;  and  I  re- 
membered what  Our  Divine  Savior  said  in  His 
Gospel:  "The  disciple  is  not  above  the  master, 
nor  the  servant  above  his  lord."  The  Christian 
is  the  servant  of  a  God  who  became  man  in  order 
to  suffer  and  to  die.  To  rebel  against  pain,  to 
revolt  against  Providence,  because  it  permits 
grief  and  bereavement,  is  to  forget  whence  we 
came,  the  school  in  which  we  have  been  taught, 
the  example  that  each  of  us  carries  graven  in 
the  name  of  a  Christian,  which  each  of  us  honors 
at  his  hearth,  contemplates  at  the  altar  of  his 
prayers,  and  of  which  he  desires  that  his  tomb, 
the  place  of  his  last  sleep,  shall  bear  the  sign. 

My  dearest  Brethren,  I  shall  return  by  and 
by  to  the  providential  law  of  suflPering,  but  you 
will  agree  that  since  it  has  pleased  a  God  made 
man,  who  was  holy,  innocent,  without  stain, 
to  suffer  and  to  die  for  us  who  are  sinners,  who 
are  guilty,  who  are  perhaps  criminals,  it  ill  be- 
comes us  to  complain  whatever  we  may  be  called 
upon  to  endure.  The  truth  is  that  no  disaster 
on  earth,  striking  creatures  only,  is  comparable 
with  that  which  our  sins  provoked,  and  whereof 
God  Himself  chose  to  be  the  blameless  victim. 

Having  recalled  to  mind  this  fundamental 
truth,  I  find  it  easier  to  summon  you  to  face 
what  has  befallen  us,  and  to  speak  to  you  simply 
and  directly  of  what  is  your  duty,  and  of  what 


CARDINAL    MERCIER 


may  be  your  hope.    That  duty  I  shall  express  in 
two  words:    Patriotism  and  Endurance. 


PATRIOTISM 

My  dearest  Brethren,  I  desire  to  utter,  in 
your  name  and  my  own,  the  gratitude  of  those 
whose  age,  vocation,  and  social  conditions  cause 
them  to  benefit  by  the  heroism  of  others,  without 
bearing  in  it  any  active  part. 

When,  immediately  on  my  return  from  Rome, 
I  went  to  Havre  to  greet  our  Belgian,  French, 
and  English  wounded;  when,  later,  at  Malines, 
at  Louvain,  at  Antwerp,  it  was  given  to  me  to 
take  the  hands  of  those  brave  men  who  carried 
a  bullet  in  their  flesh,  a  wound  on  their  fore- 
head, because  they  had  marched  to  the  attack 
of  the  enemy,  or  borne  the  shock  of  his  onslaught, 
it  was  a  word  of  gratitude  to  them  that  rose  to 
my  lips.  "0  valiant  friends,"  I  said,  "it  was  for 
us,  it  was  for  each  one  of  us,  it  was  for  me,  that 
you  risked  your  lives  and  are  now  in  pain.  I  am 
moved  to  tell  you  of  my  respect,  of  my  thankful- 
ness, to  assure  you  that  the  whole  nation  knows 
how  much  she  is  in  debt  to  you." 

For  in  truth  our  soldiers  are  our  saviors. 

A  first  time,  at  Liege,  they  saved  France;  a 
second  time,  in  Flanders,  they  arrested  the  ad- 
vance of  the  enemy  upon  Calais.  France  and 
England   know  it;    and    Belgium   stands   before 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  7 

them  both,  and  before  the  entire  world,  as  a 
nation  of  heroes.  Never  before  in  my  whole 
life  did  I  feel  so  proud  to  be  a  Belgian  as  when, 
on  the  platforms  of  French  stations,,  and  halting 
a  while  in  Paris,  and  visiting  London,  I  was 
witness  of  the  enthusiastic  admiration  our  allies 
feel  for  the  heroism  of  our  army.  Our  King  is, 
in  the  esteem  of  all,  at  the  very  summit  of  the 
moral  scale;  he  is  doubtless  the  only  man  who 
does  not  recognize  that  fact,  as,  simple  as  the 
simplest  of  his  soldiers,  he  stands  in  the  trenches 
and  puts  new  courage,  by  the  serenity  of  his 
face,  into  the  hearts  of  those  of  whom  he  re- 
quires that  they  shall  not  doubt  of  their  country. 
The  foremost  duty  of  every  Belgian  citizen  at 
this  hour  is  gratitude  to  the  army. 

If  any  man  had  rescued  you  from  shipwreck 
or  from  a  fire,  you  would  assuredly  hold  your- 
selves bound  to  him  by  a  debt  of  everlasting 
thankfulness.  But  it  is  not  one  man,  it  is  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  who  fought, 
who  suffered,  who  fell  for  you  so  that  you  might 
be  free,  so  that  Belgium  might  keep  her  inde- 
pendence, her  dynasty,  her  patriotic  unity;  so 
that,  after  the  vicissitudes  of  battle,  she  might 
rise  nobler,  purer,  more  erect,  and  more  glorious 
than  before. 

Pray  daily,  my  Brethren,  for  these  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand,  and  for  their  leaders  to 
victory;    pray   for  our  brothers   in   arms;    pray 


8  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

for  the  fallen;  pray  for  those  who  are  still  en- 
gaged; pray  for  the  recruits  who  are  making 
ready  for  the  fight  to  come. 

In  your  name  I  send  them  the  greeting  of  our 
fraternal  sympathy  and  our  assurance  that  not 
only  do  we  pray  for  the  success  of  their  arms 
and  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  their  souls,  but 
that  we  also  accept  for  their  sake  all  the  dis- 
tress, whether  physical  or  moral,  that  falls  to 
our  own  share  in  the  oppression  that  hourly 
besets  us,  and  all  that  the  future  may  have  in 
store  for  us,  in  humiliation  for  a  time,  in  anxiety, 
and  in  sorrow.  In  the  day  of  final  victory  we 
shall  all  be  in  honor;  it  is  just  that  to-day  we 
should  all  be  in  grief. 

To  judge  by  certain  rumors  that  have  reached 
me,  I  gather  that  from  districts  that  have 
had  least  to  suffer  some  bitter  words  have 
arisen  towards  our  God,  words  which,  if  spoken 
with  cold  calculation,  would  be  not  far  from 
blasphemous. 

Oh,  all  too  easily  do  I  understand  how  natural 
instinct  rebels  against  the  evils  that  have  fallen 
upon  Catholic  Belgium;  the  spontaneous  thought 
of  mankind  is  ever  that  virtue  should  have  its 
instantaneous  crown,  and  injustice  its  imme- 
diate retribution.  But  the  ways  of  God  are  not 
our  ways,  the  Scripture  tells  us.  Providence 
gives  free  course,  for  a  time  measured  by  Divine 
wisdom,    to    human    passions    and    the    conflict 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  9 

of  desires.  God,  being  eternal,  is  patient.  The 
last  word  is  the  word  of  mercy,  and  it  belongs 
to  those  who  beHeve  in  love.  "Why  art  thou 
sad,  O  my  soul?  and  why  dost  thou  disquiet 
me?  ^uare  tristis  es  anima  mea^  et  quare  con- 
turbas  me?''  Hope  in  God.  Bless  Him  always; 
is  He  not  thy  Saviour  and  thy  God?  Spera  in  Deo 
quoniam  adhuc  confitebor  illi,  salutare  vultus  mei 
et  Deus  mens. 

When  holy  Job,  whom  God  presented  as  an 
example  of  constancy  to  the  generations  to  come, 
had  been  stricken,  blow  upon  blow,  by  Satan, 
with  the  loss  of  his  children,  of  his  goods,  of 
his  health,  his  enemies  approached  him  with 
provocations  to  discouragement;  his  wife  urged 
upon  him  a  blasphemy  and  a  curse.  "Dost  thou 
still  continue  in  thy  simplicity?  Curse  God, 
and  die."  But  the  man  of  God  was  unshaken 
in  his  confidence.  "And  he  said  to  her:  Thou 
hast  spoken  like  one  of  the  foolish  women:  if 
we  have  received  good  things  at  the  hand  of 
God,  why  should  we  not  receive  evil?  Dominus 
dedity  Dominus  abstulit;  sicut  Domino  placuit  ita 
factum  est.  Sit  nomen  Domini  benedictum."  And 
experience  proved  that  saintly  one  to  be  right. 
It  pleased  the  Lord  to  recompense,  even  here 
below.  His  faithful  servant.  "The  Lord  gave 
Job  twice  as  much  as  he  had  before.  And  for 
his  sake  God  pardoned  his  friends." 

Better    than    any    other   man,    perhaps,    do    I 


lO  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

know  what  our  unhappy  country  has  under- 
gone. Nor  will  any  Belgian,  I  trust,  doubt  of 
what  I  suffer  in  my  soul,  as  a  citizen  and  as  a 
Bishop,  in  sympathy  with  all  this  sorrow.  These 
last  four  months  have  seemed  to  me  age-long. 
By  thousands  have  our  brave  ones  been  mown 
down;  wives,  mothers,  are  weeping  for  those 
they  shall  not  see  again;  hearths  are  desolate; 
dire  poverty  spreads;  anguish  increases.  At 
Malines,  at  Antwerp,  the  people  of  two  great 
cities  have  been  given  over,  the  one  for  six  hours, 
the  other  for  thirty-four  hours  of  a  continu- 
ous bombardment,  to  the  throes  of  death.  I 
have  traversed  the  greater  part  of  the  districts 
most  terribly  devastated  in  my  diocese;  ^  and 
the  ruins  I  beheld,  and  the  ashes,  were  more 
dreadful  than  I,  prepared  by  the  saddest  of 
forebodings,  could  have  imagined.  Other  parts  of 
my  diocese,  which  I  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
visit,-  have  in  like  manner  been  laid  waste. 
Churches,   schools,    asylums,    hospitals,   convents 

1  Duffel,  Lierre,  Berlaer  Saint  Rombaut,  Konings-Hoyckt, 
Mortsel,  Waelhem,  Muysen,  Wavre  Sainte  Caterine,  Wavre  Notre- 
Dame,  Sempst,  Weerde,  Eppeghen,  Hofstade,  Elewyt,  Rymenam, 
Boort-Meerbeek,  Wespelaer,  Haecht,  Werchter-Wackerzeel,  Rotse- 
laer,  Tremeloo;  Louvain  and  its  suburban  environs,  Blauwput, 
Kessel-Loo,  Boven-Loo,  Linden,  Herent,  Thildonck,  Bueken,  Relst, 
Aerschot,  Wesemael,  Hersselt,  Diest,  SchafFen,  Molenstede,  Rillaer 
Gelrode. 

2  Haekendover,  Roosbeek,  Bautersem,  Budingen,  Neerlinder, 
Ottignies,  Mousty,  Wavre,  Beyghem,  Capelle-au-Bois,  Humbeek, 
Nieuwenrode,  Liezele,  Londerzeel,  Heyndonck,  Mariekerke,  Weert, 
Blaesvelt. 


PATRIOTISM    AND    ENDURANCE  II 

in  great  numbers,  are  in  ruins.  Entire  villages 
have  all  but  disappeared.  At  Werchter-Wacker- 
zeel,  for  instance,  out  of  three  hundred  and  eighty 
homes,  a  hundred  and  thirty  remain;  at  Tre- 
meloo  two-thirds  of  the  village  are  overthrown; 
at  Bueken  out  of  a  hundred  houses  twenty  are 
standing;  at  SchafFen  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine  houses  out  of  two  hundred  are  destroyed  — 
eleven  still  stand.  At  Louvain  the  third  part  of 
the  buildings  are  down;  one  thousand  and 
seventy-four  dwellings  have  disappeared;  on 
the  town  land  and  in  the  suburbs,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-three  houses  have 
been  burnt. 

In  this  dear  city  of  Louvain,  perpetually  in 
my  thoughts,  the  magnificent  church  of  St. 
Peter  will  never  recover  its  former  splendor. 
The  ancient  college  of  St.  Ives,  the  art  schools, 
the  consular  and  commercial  schools  of  the 
University,  the  old  markets,  our  rich  library 
with  its  collections,  its  unique  and  unpublished 
manuscripts,  its  archives,  its  gallery  of  great 
portraits  of  illustrious  rectors,  chancellors,  pro- 
fessors, dating  from  the  time  of  its  foundation, 
which  preserved  for  masters  and  students  alike 
a  noble  tradition  and  were  an  incitement  in  their 
studies  —  all  this  accumulation  of  intellectual, 
of  historic,  and  of  artistic  riches,  the  fruit  of  the 
labors  of  five  centuries  —  all  is  in  the  dust. 

Many  a  parish  lost  its  pastor.     There  is  now 


12  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

sounding  In  my  ears  the  sorrowful  voice  of  an 
old  man  of  whom  I  asked  whether  he  had  had 
Mass  on  Sunday  in  his  battered  church.  "It 
is  two  months,"  he  said,  "since  we  had  a  church," 
The  parish  priest  and  the  curate  had  been  in- 
terned in  a  concentration  camp. 

Thousands  of  Belgian  citizens  have  in  like 
manner  been  deported  to  the  prisons  of  Ger- 
many, to  Miinsterlagen,  to  Celle,  to  Magdeburg. 
At  Miinsterlagen  alone  three  thousand  one  hun- 
dred civil  prisoners  were  numbered.  History  will 
tell  of  the  physical  and  moral  torments  of  their 
long  martyrdom.  Hundreds  of  innocent  men 
were  shot.  I  possess  no  complete  necrology; 
but  I  know  that  there  were  ninety-one  shot  at 
Aerschot,  and  that  there,  under  pain  of  death, 
their  fellow  citizens  were  compelled  to  dig  their 
graves.  In  the  Louvain  group  of  communes  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six  persons,  men  and  women, 
old  men  and  sucklings,  rich  and  poor,  in  health 
and  sickness,  were  shot  or  burnt. 

In  my  diocese  alone  I  know  that  thirteen 
priests  or  rehgious  were  put  to  death. ^     One  of 

^  Their  brothers  in  religion  or  in  the  priesthood  will  wish  to 
know  their  names.  Here  they  are:  Dupierreux,  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus;  Brothers  Sebastian  and  Allard  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Josephites;  Brother  Candide  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Brothers 
of  Mercy;  Father  Maximin,  Capuchin,  and  Father  Vincent,  Con- 
ventual; Lombaerts,  parish  priest  at  Boven-Loo;  Goris,  parish 
priest  at  Autgaerden;  Carette,  professor  at  the  Episcopal  college  of 
Louvain;  De  Clerck,  parish  priest  at  Bueken;  Dergent,  parish 
priest  at  Gelrode;    Wouters  Jean,  parish  priest  at  Pont-Brule.    We 


PATRIOTISM    AND    ENDURANCE  1 3 

these,  the  parish  priest  of  Gelrode,  suffered,  I 
beheve,  a  veritable  martyrdom.  I  made  a  pil- 
grimage to  his  grave,  and,  amid  the  little  flock 
which  so  lately  he  had  been  feeding  with  the 
zeal  of  an  apostle,  there  did  I  pray  to  him  that 
from  the  height  of  Heaven  he  would  guard  his 
parish,  his  diocese,  his  country. 

We  can  neither  number  our  dead  nor  com- 
pute the  measure  of  our  ruins.  And  what  would 
it  be  if  we  turned  our  sad  steps  towards  Liege, 
Namur,  Audenne,  Dinant,  Tamines,  Charleroi, 
and  elsewhere  ^  ^ 

And  there  where  lives  were  not  taken,  and 
there  where  the  stones  of  buildings  were  not 
thrown  down,  what  anguish  unrevealed!     Fami- 

have  reason  to  believe  that  the  parish  priest  of  Herent,  Van  Bladel, 
an  old  man  of  seventy-one,  was  also  killed;  until  now,  however,  his 
body  has  not  been  found. 

^  I  have  said  that  thirteen  ecclesiastics  had  been  shot  within  the 
diocese  of  Malines.  There  were,  to  my  own  actual  personal  knowl- 
edge, more  than  thirty  in  the  dioceses  of  Namur,  Tournai,  and 
Liege:  Schlogel,  parish  priest  of  Hastiere;  Gille,  parish  priest  of 
Couvin;  Pieret,  curate  at  Etalle;  Alexandre,  curate  at  Mussy-la- 
Ville;  Marechal,  seminarist  at  Maissin;  the  Reverend  Father  Gillet, 
Benedictine  of  Maredsous;  the  Reverend  Father  Nicolas,  Premon- 
stratensian  of  the  Abbey  of  LefFe;  two  Brothers  of  the  same  Abbey; 
one  Brother  of  the  Congregation  of  Oblates;  Poskin,  parish  priest 
of  Surice;  Hotlet,  parish  priest  of  Les  AUoux;  Georges,  parish  priest 
of  Tintigny;  Glouden,  parish  priest  of  Latour;  Zenden,  retired 
parish  priest  at  Latour;  Jacques,  a  priest;  Druet,  parish  priest  of 
Acoz;  PoUart,  parish  priest  of  Roselies;  Labeye,  parish  priest  of 
Blegny-Trembleur;  Thielen,  parish  priest  of  Haccourt;  Janssen, 
parish  priest  of  Heure  le  Romain;  Chabot,  parish  priest  of  Foret; 
Dossogne,  parish  priest  of  Hockay;  Reusonnet,  curate  of  Olme; 
Bilande,  chaplain  of  the  institute  of  deaf-mutes  at  Bouge;  Docq,  a 
priest,  and  others. 


14  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

lies,  hitherto  Hving  at  ease,  now  in  bitter  want; 
all  commerce  at  an  end,  all  careers  ruined;  in- 
dustry at  a  standstill;  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  working-men  without  employment; 
working-women,  shop-girls,  humble  servant-girls 
without  the  means  of  earning  their  bread;  and 
poor  souls  forlorn  on  the  bed  of  sickness  and 
fever,  crying,  "0  Lord,  how  long,  how  long?" 

There  is  nothing  to  reply.  The  reply  remains 
the  secret  of  God. 

Yes,  dearest  Brethren,  it  is  the  secret  of  God. 
He  is  the  master  of  events  and  the  sovereign 
director  of  the  human  multitude.  Domini  est 
terra  et  plenitudo  ejus;  orbis  terrarum  et  universi 
qui  habitant  in  eo.  The  first  relation  between 
the  creature  and  his  Creator  is  that  of  absolute 
dependence.  The  very  being  of  the  creature  is 
dependent;  dependent  are  his  nature,  his  facul- 
ties, his  acts,  his  works.  At  every  passing  mo- 
ment that  dependence  is  renewed,  is  incessantly 
reasserted,  inasmuch  as,  without  the  will  of 
the  Almighty,  existence  of  the  first  single  in- 
stant would  vanish  before  the  next.  Adoration, 
which  is  the  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of 
God,  is  not,  therefore,  a  fugitive  act;  it  is  the 
permanent  state  of  a  being  conscious  of  his  own 
origin.  On  every  page  of  the  Scriptures  Jehovah 
affirms  His  sovereign  dominion.  The  whole 
economy  of  the  Old  Law,  the  whole  history  of 
the  Chosen  People,  tend  to  the  same  end  —  to 


PATRIOTISM    AND    ENDURANCE  I5 

maintain  Jehovah  upon  His  throne  and  to  cast 
idols  down.  "I  am  the  first  and  the  last.  I  am 
the  Lord,  and  there  is  none  else;  there  is  no 
God  beside  Me.  I  form  the  light  and  create 
darkness,  I  make  peace  and  create  evil.  Woe 
to  him  that  gainsayeth  his  maker,  a  sherd  of  the 
earthen  pots.  Shall  the  clay  say  to  him  that 
fashioneth  it.  What  art  thou  making,  and  thy 
work  is  without  hands  .^  Tell  ye,  and  come,  and 
consult  together.  A  just  God  and  a  Savior, 
there  is  none  beside  Me." 

Ah,  did  the  proud  reason  of  mankind  dream 
that  it  could  dismiss  our  God.^  Did  it  smile  in 
irony  when,  through  Christ  and  through  His 
Church,  He  pronounced  the  solemn  words  of 
expiation  and  of  repentance.''  Vain  of  fugitive 
successes,  O  Hght-minded  man,  full  of  pleasure 
and  of  wealth,  hast  thou  imagined  that  thou 
couldst  suffice  even  to  thyself?  Then  was  God 
set  aside  in  oblivion,  then  was  He  misunder- 
stood, then  was  He  blasphemed,  with  accla- 
mation, and  by  those  whose  authority,  whose 
influence,  whose  power  had  charged  them  with 
the  duty  of  causing  His  great  laws  and  His  great 
order  to  be  revered  and  obeyed.  Anarchy  then 
spread  among  the  lower  ranks  of  mankind,  and 
many  sincere  consciences  were  troubled  by  the 
evil  example.  How  long,  O  Lord,  they  wondered, 
how  long  wilt  Thou  sufi'er  the  pride  of  this  ini- 
quity.?   Or  wilt  Thou  finally  justify  the  impious 


l6  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

opinion  that  Thou  carest  no  more  for  the  work 
of  Thy  hands?  A  shock  from  a  thunderbolt, 
and  behold  all  human  foresight  is  set  at  naught. 
Europe  trembles  upon  the  brink  of  destruction. 

The    fear    of   the    Lord    is    the    beginning   of 
wisdom. 

Many  are  the  thoughts  that  throng  the  breast 
of  man  to-day,  and  the  chief  of  them  all  is  this: 
God  reveals  Himself  as  the  Master.  The  nations 
that  made  the  attack,  and  the  nations  that  are 
warring  in  self-defense,  alike  confess  themselves 
to  be  in  the  hand  of  Him  without  whom  nothing 
is  made,  nothing  is  done.  Men  long  unaccus- 
tomed to  prayer  are  turning  again  to  God.  Within 
the  army,  within  the  civil  world,  in  public,  and 
within  the  individual  conscience,  there  is  prayer. 
Nor  is  that  prayer  to-day  a  word  learnt  by  rote, 
uttered  Hghtly  by  the  lip;  it  surges  from  the 
troubled  heart,  it  takes  the  form,  at  the  feet  of 
God,  of  the  very  sacrifice  of  life.  The  being  of 
man  is  a  whole  offering  to  God.  This  is  wor- 
ship, this  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  primal  moral 
and  religious  law:  the  Lord  thy  God  shalt  thou 
adore,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  And  even 
those  who  murmur,  and  whose  courage  is  not 
sufficient  for  submission  to  the  hand  that  smites 
us  and  saves  us,  even  these  implicitly  acknowl- 
edge God  to  be  the  Master,  for  if  they  blaspheme 
Him,  they  blaspheme  Him  for  His  delay  in  closing 
with  their  desires. 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  If 

But  as  for  us,  my  Brethren,  we  will  adore 
Him  in  the  integrity  of  our  souls.  Not  yet  do 
we  see,  in  all  its  magnificence,  the  revelation 
of  His  wisdom,  but  our  faith  trusts  Him  with 
it  all.  Before  His  justice  we  are  humble,  and 
in  His  mercy  hopeful.  With  holy  Tobias  we 
know  that  because  we  have  sinned  He  has  chas- 
tised us,  but  because  He  is  merciful  He  will 
save  us. 

It  would  perhaps  be  cruel  to  dwell  upon  our 
guilt  now,  when  we  are  paying  so  well  and  so 
nobly  what  we  owe.  But  shall  we  not  confess 
that  we  have  indeed  something  to  expiate  .f'  He 
who  has  received  much,  from  him  shall  much 
be  required.  Now,  dare  we  say  that  the  moral 
and  religious  standard  of  our  people  has  risen 
as  its  economic  prosperity  has  risen.?  The  ob- 
servance of  Sunday  rest,  the  Sunday  Mass,  the 
reverence  for  marriage,  the  restraints  of  modesty 
—  what  had  you  made  of  these.?  What,  even 
within  Christian  families,  had  become  of  the 
simplicity  practiced  by  our  fathers,  what  of  the 
spirit  of  penance,  what  of  respect  for  authority.? 
And  we  too,  we  priests,  we  religious,  I,  the 
Bishop,  we  whose  great  mission  it  is  to  present 
in  our  lives,  yet  more  than  in  our  speech,  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  have  we  earned  the  right  to 
speak  to  our  people  the  word  spoken  by  the 
Apostle  to  the  nations,  "Be  ye  followers  of  me, 
as  I   also  am  of  Christ".?     We  labor  indeed   we 


1 8  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

pray  indeed,  but  it  is  all  too  little.  We  should 
be,  by  the  very  duty  of  our  state,  the  public 
expiators  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  But  which 
was  the  thing  dominant  in  our  lives  —  expia- 
tion, or  our  comfort  and  well-being  as  citizens? 
Alas,  we  have  all  had  times  in  which  we  too 
fell  under  God's  reproach  to  His  people  after 
the  escape  from  Egypt:  "The  beloved  grew  fat 
and  kicked,  they  have  provoked  Me  with  that 
which  was  no  god,  and  I  will  provoke  them  with 
that  which  is  no  people."  Nevertheless  He 
will  save  us;  for  He  wills  not  that  our  adver- 
saries should  boast  that  they,  and  not  the 
Eternal,  did  these  things.  "See  ye  that  I  alone 
am,  and  there  is  no  other  God  beside  Me.  I 
will  kill  and  I  will  make  to  live,  I  will  strike 
and  I  will  heal." 

God  will  save  Belgium,  my  Brethren,  you 
cannot  doubt  it. 

Nay  rather.  He  is  saving  her. 

Across  the  smoke  of  conflagration,  across  the 
steam  of  blood,  have  you  not  glimpses,  do  you 
not  perceive  signs,  of  His  love  for  us?  Is  there 
a  patriot  among  us  who  does  not  know  that 
Belgium  has  grown  great?  Nay,  which  of  us 
would  have  the  heart  to  cancel  this  last  page 
of  our  national  history?  Which  of  us  does  not 
exult  in  the  brightness  of  the  glory  of  this  shat- 
tered nation?  When  in  her  throes  she  brings 
forth  heroes,  our  Mother  Country  gives  her  own 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  I9 

energy  to  the  blood  of  those  sons  of  hers.  Let  us 
acknowledge  that  we  needed  a  lesson  in  patriot- 
ism. There  were  Belgians,  and  many  such,  who 
wasted  their  time  and  their  talents  in  futile 
quarrels  of  class  with  class,  of  race  with  race,  of 
passion  with  personal  passion. 

Yet  when,  on  the  second  of  August,  a  mighty 
foreign  power,  confident  in  its  own  strength  and 
defiant  of  the  faith  of  treaties,  dared  to  threaten 
us  in  our  independence,  then  did  all  Belgians, 
without  difference  of  party,  or  of  condition,  or 
of  origin,  rise  up  as  one  man,  close-ranged  about 
their  own  king,  and  their  own  government, 
and  cry  to  the  invader:  "Thou  shalt  not  go 
through!" 

At  once,  instantly,  we  were  conscious  of  our 
own  patriotism.  For  down  within  us  all  is  some- 
thing deeper  than  personal  interests,  than  per- 
sonal kinships,  than  party  feeling,  and  this  is 
the  need  and  the  will  to  devote  ourselves  to  that 
more  general  interest  which  Rome  termed  the 
public  thing.  Res  publica.  And  this  profound 
will  within  us  is  patriotism. 

Our  country  is  not  a  mere  concourse  of  per- 
sons or  of  families  inhabiting  the  same  soil,  having 
amongst  themselves  relations,  more  or  less  in- 
timate, of  business,  of  neighborhood,  of  a  com- 
munity of  memories,  happy  or  unhappy.  Not 
so;  it  is  an  association  of  Uving  souls,  subject 
to  a  social  organization  to  be  defended  and  safe- 


20  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

guarded  at  all  costs,  even  the  cost  of  blood,  under 
the  leadership  of  those  presiding  over  its  for- 
tunes. And  it  is  because  of  this  general  spirit 
that  the  people  of  a  country  live  a  common  life 
in  the  present,  through  the  past,  through  the 
aspirations,  the  hopes,  the  confidence  in  a  life 
to  come,  which  they  share  together.  Patriot- 
ism, an  internal  principle  of  order  and  of  unity, 
an  organic  bond  of  the  members  of  a  nation, 
Wcis  placed  by  the  finest  thinkers  of  Greece  and 
Rome  at  the  head  of  the  natural  virtues.  Aris- 
totle, the  prince  of  the  philosophers  of  an- 
tiquity, held  disinterested  service  of  the  City 
—  that  is,  the  State  —  to  be  the  very  ideal  of 
human  duty.  And  the  religion  of  Christ  makes 
of  patriotism  a  positive  law;  there  is  no  perfect 
Christian  who  is  not  also  a  perfect  patriot.  For 
our  religion  exalts  the  antique  ideal,  showing 
it  to  be  realizable  only  in  the  Absolute.  Whence, 
in  truth,  comes  this  universal,  this  irresistible 
impulse  which  carries  at  once  the  will  of  the 
whole  nation  in  one  single  effort  of  cohesion 
and  of  resistance  in  face  of  the  hostile  menace 
against  her  unity  and  her  freedom.?  Whence 
comes  it  that  in  an  hour  all  interests  were  merged 
in  the  interest  of  all,  and  that  all  lives  were  to- 
gether offered  in  willing  immolation?  Not  that 
the  State  is  worth  more,  essentially,  than  the 
individual  or  the  family,  seeing  that  the  good 
of  the  family  and  of  the  individual  is  the  cause 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  21 

and  reason  of  the  organization  of  the  State. 
Not  that  our  country  is  a  Moloch  on  whose  altar 
lives  may  lawfully  be  sacrificed.  The  rigidity 
of  ancient  morals  and  the  despotism  of  the  Caesars 
suggested  that  false  principle  —  and  modern 
militarism  tends  to  revive  it  —  that  the  State 
is  omnipotent,  and  that  the  discretionary  power 
of  the  State  is  the  rule  of  Right.  Not  so,  replies 
Christian  theology.  Right  is  Peace,  that  is,  the 
interior  order  of  a  nation,  founded  upon  Justice. 
And  Justice  itself  is  absolute  only  because  it 
formulates  the  essential  relation  of  man  with 
God  and  of  man  with  man.  Moreover,  war  for 
the  sake  of  war  is  a  crime.  War  is  justifiable 
only  if  it  is  the  necessary  means  for  securing  peace. 
St.  Augustine  has  said:  "Peace  must  not  be  a 
preparation  for  war.  And  war  is  not  to  be  made 
except  for  the  attainment  of  peace."  In  the 
light  of  this  teaching,  which  is  repeated  by  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas,  patriotism  is  seen  in  its  reli- 
gious character.  Family  interests,  class  interests, 
party  interests,  and  the  material  good  of  the 
individual  take  their  place,  in  the  scale  of  values, 
below  the  ideal  of  patriotism,  for  that  ideal  is 
Right,  which  is  absolute.  Furthermore,  that 
ideal  is  the  public  recognition  of  Right  in  national 
matters,  and  of  national  Honor.  Now  there  is 
no  Absolute  except  God.  God  alone,  by  His 
sanctity  and  His  sovereignty,  dominates  all  hu- 
man interests  and  human  wills.     And  to  affirm 


22  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  absolute  necessity  of  the  subordination  of 
all  things  to  Right,  to  Justice,  and  to  Truth  is 
implicitly  to  affirm  God. 

When,  therefore,  humble  soldiers  whose  hero- 
ism we  praise  answer  us  with  characteristic 
simpHcity,  "We  only  did  our  duty,"  or  "We 
were  bound  in  honor,"  they  express  the  religious 
character  of  their  patriotism.  Which  of  us  does 
not  feel  that  patriotism  is  a  sacred  thing,  and  that 
a  violation  of  national  dignity  is  in  a  manner  a 
profanation  and  a  sacrilege? 

I  was  asked  lately  by  a  staff  officer  whether 
a  soldier  falling  in  a  righteous  cause  —  and  our 
cause  is  such,  to  demonstration  —  is  not  veritably 
a  martyr.  Well,  he  is  not  a  martyr  in  the  rigor- 
ous theological  meaning  of  the  word,  inasmuch 
as  he  dies  in  arms,  whereas  the  martyr  delivers 
himself,  undefended  and  unarmed,  into  the 
hands  of  the  executioner.  But  if  I  am  asked 
what  I  think  of  the  eternal  salvation  of  a  brave 
man  who  has  consciously  given  his  life  in  defense 
of  his  country's  honor,  and  in  vindication  of 
violated  justice,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  reply 
that  without  any  doubt  whatever  Christ  crowns 
his  military  valor,  and  that  death,  accepted  in 
this  Christian  spirit,  assures  the  safety  of  that 
man's  soul.  "Greater  love  than  this  no  man 
hath,"  said  Our  Savior,  "that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends."  And  the  soldier  who 
dies  to  save  his  brothers,  and  to  defend  the  hearths 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  23 

and  altars  of  his  country,  reaches  this  highest  of 
all  degrees  of  charity.  He  may  not  have  made 
a  close  analysis  of  the  value  of  his  sacrifice;  but 
must  we  suppose  that  God  requires  of  the  plain 
soldier  in  the  excitement  of  battle  the  methodical 
precision  of  the  moralist  or  the  theologian?  Can 
we  who  revere  his  heroism  doubt  that  his  God 
welcomes  him  with  love? 

Christian  mothers,  be  proud  of  your  sons. 
Of  all  griefs,  of  all  our  human  sorrows,  yours  is 
perhaps  the  most  worthy  of  veneration.  I  think 
I  behold  you  in  your  affliction,  but  erect,  stand- 
ing at  the  side  of  the  Mother  of  Sorrows,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Cross.  Suffer  us  to  offer  you  not  only 
our  condolence  but  our  congratulation.  Not 
all  our  heroes  obtain  temporal  honors,  but  for 
all  we  expect  the  immortal  crown  of  the  elect. 
For  this  is  the  virtue  of  a  single  act  of  perfect 
charity:  it  cancels  a  whole  lifetime  of  sins.  It 
transforms  a  sinful  man  into  a  saint. 

Assuredly  a  great  and  a  Christian  comfort  is 
the  thought  that  not  only  amongst  our  own 
men,  but  in  any  belligerent  army  whatsoever, 
all  who,  in  good  faith,  submit  to  the  discipline 
of  their  leaders  in  the  service  of  a  cause  they 
believe  to  be  righteous,  are  sharers  in  the  eternal 
reward  of  the  soldier's  sacrifice.  And  how  many 
may  there  not  be  among  these  young  men  of 
twenty  who,  had  they  survived,  might  possibly 
not  have   had  the   resolution   to   live   altogether 


24  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

well,  and  yet  in  the  impulse  of  patriotism  had  the 
resolution  to  die  so  well? 

Is  it  not  true,  my  Brethren,  that  God  has  the 
supreme  art  of  mingling  His  mercy  with  His 
wisdom  and  His  justice?  And  shall  we  not  ac- 
knowledge that  if  war  is  a  scourge  for  this  earthly 
life  of  ours,  a  scourge  whereof  we  cannot  easily 
estimate  the  destructive  force  and  the  extent,  it 
is  also  for  multitudes  of  souls  an  expiation,  a 
purification,  a  force  to  lift  them  to  the  pure 
love  of  their  country  and  to  perfect  Christian 
unselfishness? 

ENDURANCE 

We  may  now  say,  my  Brethren,  without  un- 
worthy pride,  that  our  Httle  Belgium  has  taken 
a  foremost  place  in  the  esteem  of  nations.  I  am 
aware  that  certain  onlookers,  notably  in  Italy 
and  in  Holland,  have  asked  how  it  could  be 
necessary  to  expose  this  country  to  so  immense 
a  loss  of  wealth  and  of  life,  and  whether  a  verbal 
manifesto  against  hostile  aggression,  or  a  single 
cannon-shot  on  the  frontier,  would  not  have 
served  the  purpose  of  protest.  But  assuredly  all 
men  of  good  feeling  will  be  with  us  in  our  rejec- 
tion of  these  paltry  counsels.  Mere  utilitarianism 
is  no  sufficient  rule  of  Christian  citizenship. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1839,  a  treaty  was  signed 
in  London  by  King  Leopold,  in  the  name  of 
Belgium,  on  the  one  part,  and  by  the  Emperor 


PATRIOTISM    AND    ENDURANCE  25 

of  Austria,  the  King  of  France,  the  Queen  of 
England,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  on  the  other;  and  its  seventh  article 
decreed  that  Belgium  should  form  a  separate  and 
perpetually  neutral  State,  and  should  be  held 
to  the  observance  of  this  neutrality  in  regard 
to  all  other  States.  The  co-signatories  promised, 
for  themselves  and  their  successors,  upon  their 
oath,  to  fulfil  and  to  observe  that  treaty  in  every 
point  and  every  article  without  contravention, 
or  tolerance  of  contravention.  Belgium  was  thus 
bound  in  honor  to  defend  her  own  independence. 
She  kept  her  oath.  The  other  Powers  were 
bound  to  respect  and  to  protect  her  neutrality. 
Germany  violated  her  oath;   England  kept  hers. 

These  are  the  facts. 

The  laws  of  conscience  are  sovereign  laws. 
We  should  have  acted  unworthily  had  we  evaded 
our  obligation  by  a  mere  feint  of  resistance. 
And  now  we  would  not  rescind  our  fiirst  resolu- 
tion; we  exult  in  it.  Being  called  upon  to  write 
a  most  solemn  page  in  the  history  of  our  country, 
we  resolved  that  it  should  be  also  a  sincere,  also 
a  glorious  page.  And  as  long  as  we  are  required 
to  give  proof  of  endurance,  so  long  we  shall 
endure. 

All  classes  of  our  citizens  have  devoted  their 
sons  to  the  cause  of  their  country;  but  the 
poorer  part  of  the  population  have  set  the  no- 
blest example,  for  they  have  suffered  also  priva- 


26  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

tion,  cold,  and  famine.  If  I  may  judge  of  the 
general  feeling  from  what  I  have  witnessed  in 
the  humbler  quarters  of  Malines,  and  in  the  most 
cruelly  afflicted  districts  of  my  diocese,  the 
people  are  energetic  in  their  endurance.  They 
look  to  be  righted;  they  will  not  hear  of 
surrender. 

Affliction  is,  in  the  hand  of  Divine  Omnipo- 
tence, a  two-edged  sword.  It  wounds  the  rebel- 
lious, it  sanctifies  him  who  is  willing  to  endure. 

God  proveth  us,  as  St.  James  has  told  us, 
but  He  "is  not  a  tempter  of  evils."  All  that 
comes  from  Him  is  good,  a  ray  of  light,  a  pledge 
of  love.  "But  every  man  is  tempted  by  his 
own  concupiscence.  ,  .  .  Blessed  is  he  that  en- 
dureth  temptation,  for  when  he  hath  been  proved 
he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life,  which  God 
hath  promised  to  them  that  love  Him." 

Truce,  then,  my  Brethren,  to  all  murmurs  of 
complaint.  Remember  St.  Paul's  words  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  through  them  to  all  of  Christ's 
flock,  when,  referring  to  the  bloody  sacrifice  of 
Our  Lord  upon  the  cross,  he  reminded  them 
that  they  had  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood.  Not 
only  to  the  Redeemer's  example  shall  you  look, 
but  also  to  that  of  the  thirty  thousand,  perhaps 
forty  thousand,  men  who  have  already  shed 
their  life-blood  for  their  country.  In  compari- 
son with  them  what  have  you  endured  who  are 
deprived    of   the    daily    comforts    of  your    lives. 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  2/ 

your  newspapers,  your  means  of  travel,  commu- 
nication with  your  families?  Let  the  patriotism 
of  our  army,  the  heroism  of  our  King,  of  our  be- 
loved Queen  in  her  magnanimity,  serve  to  stimu- 
late us  and  support  us.  Let  us  bemoan  ourselves 
no  more.  Let  us  deserve  the  coming  deliverance. 
Let  us  hasten  it  by  our  virtue  even  more  than 
by  our  prayers.  Courage,  Brethren,  Suffering 
passes  away;  the  crown  of  life  for  our  souls,  the 
crown  of  glory  for  our  nation,  shall  not  pass. 

I  do  not  require  of  you  to  renounce  any  of 
your  national  desires.  On  the  contrary,  I  hold 
it  as  part  of  the  obligations  of  my  episcopal 
office  to  instruct  you  as  to  your  duty  in  face  of 
the  Power  that  has  invaded  our  soil  and  now 
occupies  the  greater  part  of  our  country.  The 
authority  of  that  Power  is  no  lawful  authority. 
Therefore  in  soul  and  conscience  you  owe  it 
neither  respect,  nor  attachment,  nor  obedience. 

The  sole  lawful  authority  in  Belgium  is  that 
of  our  King,  of  our  Government,  of  the  elected 
representatives  of  the  nation.  This  authority 
alone  has  a  right  to  our  affection,  our  submission. 

Thus,  the  invader's  acts  of  pubHc  administra- 
tion have  in  themselves  no  authority,  but  legiti- 
mate authority  has  tacitly  ratified  such  of  those 
acts  as  affect  the  general  interest,  and  this  ratifi- 
cation, and  this  only,  gives  them  juridic  value. 

Occupied  provinces  are  not  conquered  prov- 
inces.    Belgium  is  no  more  a  German  province 


28  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

than  Galicia  is  a  Russian  province.  Neverthe- 
less the  occupied  portion  of  our  country  is  in  a 
position  it  is  compelled  to  endure.  The  greater 
part  of  our  towns,  having  surrendered  to  the 
enemy  on  conditions,  are  bound  to  observe  those 
conditions.  From  the  outset  of  military  opera- 
tions the  civil  authorities  of  the  country  urged 
upon  all  private  persons  the  necessity  of  absten- 
tion from  hostile  acts  against  the  enemy's  army. 
That  instruction  remains  in  force.  It  is  our 
army,  and  our  army  solely,  in  league  with  the 
valiant  troops  of  our  AUies,  that  has  the  honor 
and  the  duty  of  national  defense.  Let  us  intrust 
the  army  with  our  final  deliverance. 

Towards  the  persons  of  those  who  are  holding 
dominion  among  us  by  military  force,  and  who 
assuredly  cannot  but  be  sensible  of  the  chival- 
rous energy  with  which  we  have  defended,  and 
are  still  defending,  our  independence,  let  us  con- 
duct ourselves  with  all  needful  forbearance. 
Some  among  them  have  declared  themselves  will- 
ing to  mitigate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  severity 
of  our  situation  and  to  help  us  to  recover  some 
minimum  of  regular  civic  life.  Let  us  observe 
the  rules  they  have  laid  upon  us  so  long  as  those 
rules  do  not  violate  our  personal  liberty,  nor  our 
consciences  as  Christians,  nor  our  duty  to  our 
country.  Let  us  not  take  bravado  for  courage, 
nor  tumult  for  bravery. 

You   especially,    my    dearest    Brethren   in   the 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  29 

Priesthood,  be  you  at  once  the  best  examples 
of  patriotism  and  the  best  supporters  of  public 
order.  On  the  field  of  battle  you  have  been 
magnificent.  The  King  and  the  Army  admire 
the  intrepidity  of  our  military  chaplains  in  face 
of  death,  their  charity  at  the  work  of  the  ambu- 
lance.    Your  Bishops  are  proud  of  you. 

You  have  suffered  greatly.  You  have  endured 
much  calumny.  But  be  patient;  history  will 
do  you  justice.  I  to-day  bear  my  witness  for 
you. 

Wherever  it  has  been  possible  I  have  ques- 
tioned our  people,  our  clergy,  and  particularly 
a  considerable  number  of  priests  who  had  been 
deported  to  German  prisons,  but  whom  a  prin- 
ciple of  humanity,  to  which  I  gladly  render 
homage,  has  since  set  at  liberty.  Well,  I  affirm 
upon  my  honor,  and  I  am  prepared  to  assert 
upon  faith  of  my  oath,  that  until  now  I  have 
not  met  a  single  ecclesiastic,  secular  or  regular, 
who  had  once  incited  civilians  to  bear  arms 
against  the  enemy.  All  have  loyally  followed 
the  instructions  of  their  Bishops,  given  in  the 
early  days  of  August,  to  the  effect  that  they  were 
to  use  their  moral  influence  over  the  civil  popula- 
tion so  that  order  might  be  preserved  and  military 
regulations  observed. 

I  exhort  you  to  persevere  in  this  ministry  of 
peace,  which  is  for  you  the  sanest  form  of  pa- 
triotism;    to    accept   with    all    your    hearts    the 


30  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

privations  you  have  to  endure;  to  simplify  still 
further,  if  it  is  possible,  your  way  of  life.  One 
of  you  who  is  reduced  by  robbery  and  pillage 
to  a  state  bordering  on  total  destitution,  said  to 
me  lately,  "  I  am  living  now  as  I  wish  I  had  lived 
always." 

Multiply  the  efforts  of  your  charity,  corporeal 
and  spiritual.  Like  the  great  Apostle,  do  you 
endure  daily  the  cares  of  your  Church,  so  that 
no  man  shall  suffer  loss  and  you  not  suffer  loss, 
and  no  man  fall  and  you  not  burn  with  zeal  for 
him.  Make  yourselves  the  champions  of  all 
those  virtues  enjoined  upon  you  by  civic  honor 
as  well  as  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  "Whatso- 
ever things  are  true,  whatsoever  modest,  what- 
soever just,  whatsoever  holy,  whatsoever  lovely, 
whatsoever  of  good  fame,  if  there  be  any  virtue, 
if  any  praise  of  discipline,  think  on  these  things." 
So  may  the  worthiness  of  our  lives  justify  us, 
my  most  dear  Colleagues,  in  repeating  the  noble 
claim  of  St.  Paul:  "The  things  which  ye  have 
learned,  and  received,  and  heard,  and  seen,  in 
me,  these  do  ye,  and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be 
with  you." 

CONCLUSION 

Let  us  continue,  then,  dearest  Brethren,  to 
pray,  to  do  penance,  to  attend  Holy  Mass,  and 
to  receive  Holy  Communion  for  the  sacred  in- 
tention of  our  dear  country.  ...     I  recommend 


PATRIOTISM    AND    ENDURANCE  3  I 

parish  priests  to  hold  a  funeral  service  on  behalf 
of  our  fallen  soldiers,  on  every  Saturday. 

Money,  I  know  well,  is  scarce  with  you  all. 
Nevertheless,  if  you  have  little,  give  of  that 
little,  for  the  succor  of  those  among  your  fellow 
countrymen  who  are  without  shelter,  without 
fuel,  without  sufficient  bread.  I  have  directed 
my  parish  priests  to  form  for  this  purpose,  in 
every  parish,  a  relief  committee.  Do  you  second 
them  charitably  and  convey  to  my  hands  such 
alms  as  you  can  save  from  your  superfluity, 
if  not  from  your  necessities,  so  that  I  may  be 
the  distributor  to  the  destitute  who  are  known 
to  me. 

Our  distress  has  moved  the  other  nations. 
England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland;  France,  Hol- 
land, the  United  States,  Canada,  have  vied 
with  each  other  in  generosity  for  our  relief.  It  is 
a  spectacle  at  once  most  mournful  and  most 
■noble.  Here  again  is  a  revelation  of  the  Provi- 
dential Wisdom  which  draws  good  from  evil.  In 
your  name,  my  Brethren,  and  in  my  own,  I  offer 
to  the  governments  and  the  nations  that  have 
succored  us  the  assurance  of  our  admiration  and 
our  gratitude. 

With  a  touching  goodness  our  Holy  Father 
Benedict  the  Fifteenth  has  been  the  first  to 
incline  his  heart  towards  us.  When,  a  few  mo- 
ments after  his  election,  he  deigned  to  take  me 
in  his  arms,  I  was  bold  enough  there  to  ask  that 


32  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

the  first  Pontifical  Benediction  he  spoke  should 
be  given  to  Belgium,  already  in  deep  distress 
through  the  war.  He  eagerly  closed  with  my 
wish,  which  I  knew  would  also  be  yours.  To-day, 
with  delicate  kindness,  His  Holiness  has  decided 
to  renounce  the  annual  offering  of  Peter's  Pence 
from  Belgium.  In  a  letter  dated  on  the  beautiful 
festival  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin,  December  the 
eighth,  he  assures  us  of  the  part  he  bears  in  our 
sufferings,  he  prays  for  us,  calls  down  upon  our 
Belgium  the  protection  of  Heaven,  and  exhorts 
us  to  hail  in  the  then  approaching  advent  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace  the  dawn  of  better  days.  Here 
is  the  text  of  this  valued  message: 

"  To  our  dear  Son,  Desire  Mercier,  Cardinal  Priest 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  of  the  title  of  St. 
Peter  in  Chains,  Archbishop  of  Malines,  at 
Malines. 

"Our  Dear  Son, 

Health  and  Apostolic  Benediction. 

"The  fatherly  solicitude  which  we  feel  for  all 
the  faithful  whom  Divine  Providence  has  in- 
trusted to  our  care  causes  us  to  share  their  griefs 
even  more  fully  than  their  joys. 

"Could  we  then  fail  to  be  moved  by  keenest 
sorrow  at  the  sight  of  the  Belgian  nation  which 
we  so  dearly  love,  reduced  by  a  most  cruel 
and  most  disastrous  war  to  this  lamentable 
state  .f* 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  33 

"We  behold  the  King  and  his  august  family, 
the  members  of  the  Government,  the  chief  per- 
sons of  the  country,  bishops,  priests,  and  a  whole 
people  enduring  woes  which  must  fill  with  pity 
all  gentle  hearts,  and  which  our  own  soul,  in  the 
fervor  of  paternal  love,  must  be  the  first  to 
compassionate.  Thus,  under  the  burden  of  this 
distress  and  this  mourning,  we  call,  in  our  prayers, 
for  an  end  to  such  misfortunes.  May  the  God 
of  mercy  hasten  the  day!  Meanwhile  we  strive 
to  mitigate,  as  far  as  in  us  lies,  this  excessive 
suffering.  Therefore  the  step  taken  by  our  dear 
Son,  Cardinal  Hartmann,  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
at  whose  request  it  was  arranged  that  French  or 
Belgian  priests  detained  in  Germany  should  have 
the  treatment  of  officers,  gave  us  great  satisfac- 
tion, and  we  have  expressed  our  thanks  to  him 
for  his  action. 

"As  regards  Belgium,  we  have  been  informed 
that  the  faithful  of  that  nation,  so  sorely  tried, 
did  not  neglect,  in  their  piety,  to  turn  towards 
us  their  thoughts,  and  that  even  under  the  blow 
of  so  many  calamities  they  proposed  to  gather 
this  year,  as  in  all  preceding  years,  the  offerings 
to  St.  Peter,  which  supply  the  necessities  of  the 
Apostolic  See.  This  truly  incomparable  proof 
of  piety  and  of  attachment  filled  us  with  admira- 
tion; we  accept  it  with  all  the  affection  that  is 
due  from  a  grateful  heart;  but  having  regard 
to  the  painful  position  in  which  our  dear  children 


34  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

are  placed,  we  cannot  bring  ourselves  to  favor 
the  fulfillment  of  that  project,  noble  though  it  is. 
If  any  alms  are  to  be  gathered,  our  wish  is  that 
the  money  should  be  entirely  devoted  to  the  bene- 
fit of  the  Belgian  people,  who  are  as  illustrious 
by  reason  of  their  nobility  and  their  piety  as  they 
are  to-day  worthy  of  all  sympathy. 

"Amid  the  difficulties  and  anxieties  of  the 
present  hour  we  would  remind  the  sons  who  are 
so  dear  to  us  that  the  arm  of  God  is  not  short- 
ened, that  He  is  ever  able  to  save,  that  His  ear  is 
not  deaf  to  prayer. 

"Let  the  hope  of  Divine  aid  increase  with 
the  approach  of  the  festival  of  Christmas  and 
of  the  mysteries  that  celebrate  the  Birth  of  Our 
Lord,  and  recall  that  peace  which  God  pro- 
claimed to  mankind  by  His  angels. 

"May  the  souls  of  the  suffering  and  afflicted 
find  comfort  and  consolation  in  the  assurance 
of  the  paternal  tenderness  that  prompts  our 
prayers.  Yes,  may  God  take  pity  upon  the 
Belgian  people,  and  grant  them  the  abundance 
of  all  good. 

"As  a  pledge  of  these  prayers  and  good  wishes, 
we  now  grant  to  all,  and  in  the  first  place  to  you, 
our  dear  Son,  the  Apostolic  Benediction. 

"Given  in  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  on  the  feast 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Our  Lady,  in 
the  year  MCMXIV,  the  first  of  our  Pontificate. 

"Benedict  XV,  Pope." 


PATRIOTISM   AND    ENDURANCE  35 

One  last  word,  my  dearest  Brethren.  At  the 
outset  of  these  troubles  I  said  to  you  that  in 
the  day  of  the  liberation  of  our  territory  we 
should  give  to  the  Sacred  Heart  and  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  a  public  testimony  of  our  grati- 
tude. Since  that  date  I  have  been  able  to  con- 
sult my  colleagues  in  the  Episcopate,  and  in 
agreement  with  them,  I  now  ask  you  to  make, 
as  soon  as  possible,  a  fresh  effort  to  hasten  the 
construction  of  the  national  basilica,  promised 
by  Belgium  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  As 
soon  as  the  sun  of  peace  shall  shine  upon  our 
country,  we  shall  redress  our  ruins,  we  shall 
restore  shelter  to  those  who  have  none,  we  shall 
rebuild  our  churches,  we  shall  reconstitute  our 
hbraries,  and  we  shall  hope  to  crown  this  work 
of  reconciliation  by  raising,  upon  the  heights  of 
the  capital  of  Belgium,  free  and  Catholic,  that 
national  basilica  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Further- 
more, every  year  we  shall  make  it  our  duty  to 
celebrate  solemnly,  on  the  Friday  following  Corpus 
Christi,  the  festival  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

Lastly,  in  every  region  of  the  diocese  the 
clergy  will  organize  an  annual  pilgrimage  of 
thanksgiving  to  one  of  the  privileged  sanctuaries 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  order  to  pay  especial 
honor  to  the  Protectress  of  our  national  indepen- 
dence and  universal  Mediatrix  of  the  Christian 
commonwealth. 

The  present  letter  shall  be  read  on  the  fol- 


36  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

lowing  dates  —  on  the  first  day  of  the  year  and 
on  the  Sundays  following  the  day  on  which  it 
shall  severally  reach  you. 

Accept,  my  dearest  Brethren,  my  wishes  and 
prayers  for  you,  and  for  the  happiness  of  your 
families,  and  receive,  I  pray  you,  my  paternal 
benediction. 

►I^  D.  J.  Card.  Mercier, 

Archbishop  of  Malines. 


II 

AN  APPEAL   TO   TRUTH 


II 

AN  APPEAL   TO  TRUTH 

NOVEMBER    24,    I915 

To  Their  Eminences  the  Cardinals  and  Their  Lord- 
ships the  Bishops  of  Germany,  Bavaria,  and 
Austria-Hungary . 

Your  Eminences  and  Your  Lordships 

FOR  a  year,  we  Catholic  Bishops  —  you,  the 
Bishops  of  Germany  on  the  one  hand,  and 
we,  the  Bishops  of  Belgium,  France,  and  England, 
on  the  other  —  have  presented  a  disconcerting 
spectacle  to  the  world. 

Hardly  had  the  German  armies  trodden  the 
soil  of  our  country,  when  the  rumor  spread  among 
you  that  our  civilians  were  taking  part  in  mili- 
tary operations;  that  the  women  of  Vise  and  of 
Liege  were  gouging  out  the  eyes  of  your  soldiers; 
that  the  populace  at  Antwerp  and  at  Brussels 
had  plundered  the  property  of  expelled  Germans. 

In  the  first  days  of  August,  Dom  Ildefons  Her- 
wegen,  Abbot  of  Maria-Laach,  sent  a  telegram  to 
the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Malines,  begging 
him,  for  the  love  of  God,  to  protect  the  German 
soldiers  from  the  tortures  which  our  fellow 
citizens  were  supposed  to  be  inflicting  on  them. 

39 


40  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

But  it  was  common  knowledge  that  our  Govern- 
ment had  taken  all  necessary  measures  to  insure 
that  all  citizens  were  instructed  in  the  laws  of 
war:  in  every  parish  the  inhabitants  were  obliged 
to  leave  their  weapons  at  the  town  hall;  the 
people  were  warned,  by  means  of  notices,  that 
the  only  citizens  authorized  to  bear  arms  were 
those  regularly  enrolled  in  the  army;  and  the 
clergy,  anxious  to  second  the  authority  of  the 
State,  had  given  circulation  to  the  instructions, 
published  by  the  Government,  orally,  by  parish 
notices,  and  by  posting  bills  on  the  church  doors. 

Having  been  accustomed  for  a  century  to  a 
reign  of  peace,  we  had  no  idea  that  anyone  could 
honestly  impute  violent  instincts  to  us.  Strong 
in  our  integrity  and  in  the  sincerity  of  our  peace- 
ful intentions,  we  replied  to  the  slanderous  charges 
of  francs-tireurs  and  "gouged  eyes"  by  a  shrug 
of  the  shoulders,  convinced  that  the  truth  would 
not  be  long  in  manifesting  itself. 

The  Belgian  clergy  and  episcopate  were  in 
personal  relations  with  many  priests,  monks,  and 
bishops  of  Germany  and  of  Austria;  the  Eucha- 
ristic  Congresses  of  Cologne  in  1909  and  of  Vienna 
in  1 91 2  had  given  them  the  opportunity  of  know- 
ing one  another  more  closely  and  of  mutually 
appreciating  one  another.  We  had  also  the 
assurance  that  the  CathoHcs  of  the  nations  at 
war  with  ours  would  not  judge  us  hastily;  and, 
without  being  much  disturbed  by  the  contents  of 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  4I 

the  telegram  of  Dom  Ildefons,  the  Cardinal  of 
Malines  contented  himself  with  begging  him  to 
unite  with  us  in  preaching  humanity;  "for,"  he 
added,  "we  are  informed  that  the  German  troops 
are  shooting  innocent  Belgian  priests." 

From  the  very  first  days  of  August,  crimes 
had  been  committed  at  Battice,  Vise,  Berneau, 
Herve,  and  elsewhere,  but  we  tried  to  hope  that 
they  would  remain  isolated  cases,  and  knowing 
the  very  distinguished  connections  of  Dom  Ilde- 
fons, we  put  great  reliance  on  the  following  decla- 
ration, which  he  was  good  enough  to  send  us  on 
August  II:  —  *'I  am  informed,  on  the  highest 
authority,  that  a  formal  order  has  been  given 
by  the  miUtary  command  to  the  German  soldiers 
to  spare  the  innocent.  As  regards  the  very  de- 
plorable fact  that  even  priests  have  lost  their 
lives,  I  would  call  your  Lordship's  attention  to 
the  circumstance  that  the  costumes  of  priests 
and  monks  have  lately  become  objects  of  sus- 
picion and  offense,  since  French  spies  have  made 
use  of  the  ecclesiastical  costume,  and  even  of 
that  of  nuns,  in  order  to  disguise  their  hostile 
intentions." 

Nevertheless,  the  acts  of  hostility  against  the 
innocent  population  continued. 

On  August  18,  1914,  the  Bishop  of  Liege 
wrote  to  Commandant  Bayer,  Governor  of  the 
town  of  Liege:  "Several  villages  have  been 
destroyed  one  after  the  other;   important  people, 


42  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

among  them  some  priests,  have  been  shot;  others 
have  been  arrested,  and  all  have  protested  their 
innocence.  I  know  the  priests  of  my  diocese; 
I  cannot  believe  that  a  single  one  of  them  has  been 
guilty  of  acts  of  hostility  towards  German  sol- 
diers. I  have  visited  several  ambulances  and  I 
have  seen  that  the  German  wounded  are  cared 
for  there  with  the  same  attention  as  the  Belgian. 
They  admit  it  themselves."  ^ 

No  reply  was  received  to  this  letter. 

At  the  beginning  of  September  the  German 
Emperor  lent  the  weight  of  his  authority  to  the 
scandalous  accusations  of  which  our  innocent 
people  were  the  object.  He  sent  to  Mr,  Wilson, 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  a  telegram, 
which,  as  far  as  we  know,  has  not  been  withdrawn 
to  this  hour:  "The  Belgian  Government  has 
publicly  encouraged  the  civilian  population  to  take 
part  in  this  war,  for  which  it  has  been  long  care- 
fully preparing.  The  cruelties  committed  in  the 
course  of  this  guerrilla  warfare,  by  women  and 
even  by  priests  on  doctors  and  nurses,  have  been 
such  that  my  Generals  have  been  obliged  at  last 
to  have  recourse  to  the  severest  measures  to 
punish  the  guilty,  and  to  hinder  the  bloodthirsty 

*  See  page  65  for  the  complete  text  of  the  letter  of  the  Bishop  of 
Liege.  The  protest  was  repeated  on  August  21  to  General  von 
Kolowe,  who  had  become  military  governor  of  Liege;  then  on 
August  29  to  His  Excellency,  Baron  von  der  Goltz,  Governor-General 
of  the  occupied  provinces  of  Belgium,  and  residing,  at  this  time, 
in  the  episcopal  palace  of  Liege. 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  43 

population  from  continuing  to  commit  these 
abominable  crimes.  Several  villages,  and  even 
the  town  of  Louvain,  have  had  to  be  destroyed 
(except  the  very  beautiful  Town  Hall)  for  our 
defense  and  the  protection  of  my  troops.  My 
heart  bleeds  when  I  see  that  such  measures  are 
rendered  inevitable,  and  when  I  think  of  the 
numberless  innocent  people  who  have  lost  their 
homes  and  property  in  consequence  of  the  crimes 
in  question." 

This  telegram  was  posted  up  in  Belgium  by 
order  of  the  German  Government  on  Septem- 
ber II.  The  very  next  day,  September  12, 
the  Bishop  of  Namur  asked  for  an  interview 
with  the  military  Governor  of  Namur,  and  pro- 
tested against  the  accusation  which  the  Emperor 
sought  to  make  against  the  Belgian  clergy.  He 
maintained  the  innocence  of  all  the  members  of 
the  clergy  who  had  been  shot  or  ill-treated,  and 
declared  that  he  was  himself  ready  to  publish 
any  guilty  deeds  which  were  in  reality  established. 

The  offer  of  the  Bishop  of  Namur  was  not  ac- 
cepted, and  his  protest  had  no  result. 

Calumny  was  thus  given  a  free  course.  The 
German  press  fomented  it.  The  organ  of  the 
Catholic  Center,  the  Cologne  Gazette,  rivaled  the  Lu- 
theran press  in  its  chauvinisms,  and  on  the  day 
when  thousands  of  our  fellow  citizens  (eccle- 
siastics and  laity  from  Vise,  Aerschot,  Wesemel, 
Herent,  Louvain,  and  twenty  other  localities  as 


44  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

innocent  of  deeds  of  war  or  of  cruelties  as  you  and 
we),  were  taken  prisoners,  led  through  the  sta- 
tions of  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  Cologne,  and  for 
hours  were  exhibited  as  a  spectacle  for  the  morbid 
curiosity  of  the  Rhenish  metropoHs,  they  had  the 
pain  of  finding  that  their  CathoHc  brethren  poured 
out  as  many  insults  on  them  as  the  Lutherans 
of  Celle,  Soltau,  and  Magdeburg. 

Not  a  voice  in  Germany  was  raised  in  defense 
of  the  victims. 

The  legend,  which  turned  innocent  into  guilty 
and  crime  into  an  act  of  justice,  thus  gained 
credence,  and,  on  May  lo,  191 5,  the  "White 
Book,"  the  official  organ  of  the  German  Empire, 
did  not  scruple  to  repeat  the  same  charges,  and 
to  circulate  in  neutral  coi^ntries  these  odious 
and  cowardly  lies:  "It  is  indisputable  that  Ger- 
man wounded  have  been  robbed,  murdered,  and 
even  frightfully  mutilated  by  the  Belgian  popu- 
lation, and  that  even  women  and  young  girls 
have  taken  part  in  these  abominations.  The 
eyes  of  wounded  Germans  have  been  gouged 
out,  their  ears,  noses,  fingers,  and  sexual  organs 
cut  oflF,  or  their  bowels  opened.  In  other  cases 
German  soldiers  have  been  poisoned,  hanged 
from  trees,  sprinkled  with  boiling  liquids,  and 
sometimes  burnt,  so  that  they  have  died  in 
frightful  agony.  These  brutish  proceedings  of 
the  population  not  only  violate  the  rules  expressly 
laid  down  by  the  Geneva  Convention  as  to  the 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  45 

care  and  attention  due  to  the  enemy  wounded, 
but  are  contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  laws  of  war  and  of  humanity."  ^ 

Put  yourselves,  for  a  moment,  in  our  place, 
dear  Brethren  in  the  faith  and  priesthood. 

We  know  that  these  shameless  accusations  of 
the  Imperial  Government  are  calumnies  from  end 
to  end.     We  know  it,  and  we  swear  it. 

Now,  your  Government,  to  justify  them,  calls 
evidence  which  has  not  been  submitted  to  any 
cross-examination. 

Is  it  not  your  duty,  not  only  in  charity,  but  in 
strict  justice,  to  enlighten  yourselves  and  your 
flocks,  and  to  furnish  us  with  the  opportunity  of 
establishing  our  innocence  legally? 

You  already  owed  us  this  satisfaction  in  the 
name  of  CathoHc  charity,  which  is  above  national 
struggles;  you  owe  it  to  us  to-day  in  strict  justice, 
because  a  Committee,  which  has  at  least  your 
tacit  approval,  and  is  composed  of  the  most 
highly  esteemed  politicians,  scientists,  and  theo- 
logians in  Germany,  has  supported  the  official 
accusations,  and  has  intrusted  to  the  pen  of  a 
CathoHc  priest.  Professor  A.  J.  Rosenberg,  of 
Paderborn,  the  task  of  summing  them  up  in  a 
book,  entitled  "The  Lying  Accusations  of  the 
French  Catholics  against  Germany."  It  has  thus 
thrown  upon  Catholic  Germany  the  responsibility 

^  "  Die  volkerrechtswidrige  Fiihrung  des  belgischen  Volkskriegs: 
Denkschrift"  (S.  4). 


46  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

for  the  active  and  public  propagation  of  the 
calumny   against  the  Belgian  people. 

When  the  French  book,  in  reply  to  which  the 
German  Catholics  publish  their  own,  came  out, 
their  Eminences,  Cardinal  von  Hartmann,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  and  Cardinal  von  Bettinger, 
Archbishop  of  Munich,  felt  impelled  to  send  a 
telegram  to  their  Emperor  in  these  terms:  "Re- 
volted by  the  libels  against  the  German  Fatherland 
and  its  glorious  army,  contained  in  the  work  'The 
German  War  and  Catholicism,'  we  feel  in  our 
hearts  the  necessity  of  expressing  our  sorrowful 
indignation  to  Your  Majesty  in  the  name  of  all 
the  German  Bishops.  We  shall  not  fail  to  make 
our  complaint  to  the  Supreme  Head  of  the 
Church." 

Now,  most  reverend  Eminences  and  venerated 
Colleagues  of  the  German  Episcopacy,  in  our 
turn,  we.  Archbishop  and  Bishops  of  Belgium, 
revolted  by  the  calumnies  against  our  Belgian 
land  and  its  glorious  army,  contained  in  the  Im- 
perial "White  Book,"  and  reproduced  in  the  reply 
of  the  German  Catholics  to  the  work  of  the  French 
Catholics,  we  also  feel  impelled  to  express  to  our 
King,  to  our  Government,  to  our  army,  and  to 
our  country  our  sorrowful  indignation. 

And,  in  order  that  our  protest  should  not  stand 
in  conflict  with  yours  without  any  useful  result, 
we  ask  you  to  agree  to  help  us  to  set  up  a  tribunal 
to  hear  both  sides.     You  will  appoint,  by  virtue 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  47 

of  your  office,  as  many  members  as  you  wish  and 
such  as  you  please  to  choose.  We  will  appoint 
the  same  number  —  for  instance,  three  on  each 
side.  We  will  join  in  asking  the  Bishops  of  a 
neutral  State,  Holland,  Spain,  Switzerland,  or 
the  United  States,  to  choose  us  an  arbitrator,  who 
will  preside  over  the  sittings  of  the  tribunal. 

You  have  carried  your  complaints  to  the  Su- 
preme Head  of  the  Church. 

It  is  not  just  that  he  should  hear  your  voice 
only. 

You  will  be  honest  enough  to  help  us  to  make 
ours  heard. 

Both  you  and  we  have  the  same  duty  —  to  lay 
before  His  Holiness  attested  documents  on  which 
he  may  be  able  to  found  his  decision. 

You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  efforts  which  we 
have  repeatedly  made,  to  obtain  from  the  Power, 
which  is  in  occupation  of  Belgium,  the  estabHsh- 
ment  of  a  tribunal  of  inquiry. 

The  Cardinal  of  Malines,  on  two  occasions,  in 
writing,  January  24,  191 5,  and  February  10, 
191 5,  and  the  Bishop  of  Namur,  in  a  letter  to 
the  miHtary  Governor  of  his  Province,  April  12, 
191 5,  urged  the  establishment  of  a  tribunal  to 
be  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  German  and 
Belgian  arbitrators  and  presided  over  by  a  repre- 
sentative of  a  neutral  State. 

Our  solicitations  met  with  an  obstinate  refusal. 
Yet  the  German  authorities  were  careful  to  set 


48  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

up  inquiries;  but  they  wanted  them  to  be  one- 
sided, that  is,  without  any  legal  value. 

After  having  refused  the  inquiry  which  the 
Cardinal  of  Malines  asked  for,  the  German 
authorities  proceeded  to  various  locahties,  where 
priests  had  been  shot  and  peaceable  citizens 
massacred  or  made  prisoners,  and  there  took  the 
depositions  of  witnesses,  some  of  whom  were  chosen 
indiscriminately  and  others  carefully  selected. 
Sometimes  it  was  in  the  presence  of  a  representa- 
tive of  the  local  authority,  who  was  ignorant  of 
the  German  language,  and  so  was  obliged  to 
accept  and  to  sign  on  trust  the  official  reports. 
They  believed  in  this  way  they  could  form  con- 
clusions which  might  afterwards  be  presented  to 
the  public  as  the  results  of  examination  and 
cross-examination. 

The  German  inquiry  at  Louvain  in  November, 
1914,  was  conducted  under  these  conditions. 
It  is  thus  devoid  of  authority. 

So  it  is  natural  that  we  should  turn  to  you. 

You  will  grant  us  the  Court  of  Arbitration, 
which  the  occupying  Power  has  refused  us.  You 
will  obtain  for  us  from  your  Government  a  public 
declaration  that  the  witnesses  will  be  asked  by 
you  and  us  to  tell  all  they  know  without  fear  of 
reprisals.  Before  you,  under  the  shelter  of  your 
moral  authority,  they  will  feel  more  secure,  and 
will  be  encouraged  to  relate  what  they  have  seen 
and  heard;   the  world  will  have  faith  in  the  Epis- 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  49 

copate  of  our  two  united  countries;  our  joint 
control  will  guarantee  the  authenticity  of  the 
witnesses  and  the  fidelity  of  the  official  reports. 
An  inquiry,  so  conducted,  will  inspire  confidence. 

We  ask  for  this  inquiry.  Your  Eminences  and 
venerated  Colleagues,  above  all,  to  avenge  the 
honor  of  the  Belgian  people.  Slanders  on  the 
part  of  your  people  and  its  highest  representatives 
have  violated  it.  You  know,  as  well  as  we,  the 
adage  of  theology,  moral,  human.  Christian  and 
Catholic  —  no  pardon  without  restitution:  Non 
remittitur  peccatum,  nisi  restituatur  ahlatum. 

Your  people,  through  the  mouthpiece  of  their 
political  powers  and  highest  moral  authorities, 
have  accused  our  fellow  citizens  of  having  com- 
mitted atrocities  and  horrors  upon  wounded 
Germans,  of  which  the  "White  Book"  and  the 
Catholic  manifesto,  above  mentioned,  pointed  out 
the  details;  we  oppose  a  formal  denial  to  all 
these  accusations,  and  we  ask  to  be  allowed 
to  prove  the  facts  upon  which  we  found  this 
denial. 

In  return,  in  order  to  justify  the  atrocities 
committed  in  Belgium  by  the  German  army, 
the  poUtical  Power  by  the  very  heading  of  the 
"White  Book,"  Die  volkerrechtswidrige  Fiihrung 
des  belgischen  Folkskriegs  (the  violation  of  inter- 
national law  by  the  methods  of  war  employed 
by  the  Belgian  people),  and  the  hundred  Catholic 
signatories   of  the  work.    The  German   War  and 


50  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Catholicism;  a  German  reply  to  French  attacks, 
affirm  that  the  German  army  in  Belgium  legiti- 
mately defended  itself  against  a  treacherous  or- 
ganization o{  franc  s-tireurs. 

We  declare  that  nowhere  in  Belgium  was  there 
an  organization  of  franc  s-tireurs,  and  we  claim 
the  right  to  prove  the  truth  of  our  assertion  in 
the  name  of  our  calumniated  national  honor. 

You  will  call  whom  you  wish  before  the  tribunal, 
at  which  all  parties  will  be  present.  We  will 
invite  to  appear  there  all  the  priests  of  the  par- 
ishes where  civilians,  priests,  monks,  or  laymen 
were  put  to  death  or  threatened  with  death  to 
the  cry  of  Man  hat  geschossen  (someone  has  fired). 
We  will  ask  all  these  priests,  if  you  wish,  to  sign 
their  depositions  on  oath,  and  then,  at  the  risk 
of  maintaining  that  all  the  Belgian  clergy  is 
perjured,  you  will  be  obliged  to  accept  the  con- 
clusions of  this  solemn  and  decisive  inquiry,  and 
the  civilized  world  will  be  also  unable  to  deny 
them. 

But,  your  Eminences  and  venerated  Colleagues, 
we  should  remind  you  that  you  have  the  same 
interest  as  ourselves  in  setting  up  a  court  of  honor. 

For  we,  through  direct  experience,  know  and 
declare  that  the  German  army  gave  itself  up  in 
Belgium,  in  a  hundred  different  places,  to  plun- 
dering, incendiarism,  imprisonments,  massacres, 
and  sacrileges,  contrary  to  all  justice  and  to  every 
sentiment  of  humanity. 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  5 1 

We  declare  this,  notably  in  the  cases  of  the 
communes,  the  names  of  which  appeared  in  our 
Pastoral  Letters  and  in  the  two  notes  addressed 
by  the  Bishops  of  Namur  and  of  Liege,  on  October 
31  and  November  i,  191 5,  respectively,  to  His 
Holiness,  Pope  Benedict  XV,  to  His  Excellency, 
the  Nuncio  at  Brussels,  and  to  the  ministers  or 
representatives  of  neutral  countries  in  residence 
at  Brussels. 

Fifty  innocent  priests  and  thousands  of  inno- 
cent CathoUcs  were  put  to  death;  hundreds  of 
others,  whose  lives  have  been  saved  by  cir- 
cumstances independent  of  the  will  of  their 
persecutors,  were  in  danger  of  death;  thousands 
of  innocent  persons,  with  no  previous  trial,  were 
imprisoned;  many  of  them  underwent  months 
of  detention,  and,  when  they  were  released,  the 
most  minute  questioning,  to  which  they  were 
submitted,  revealed  no  guilt  in  any  of  them. 

These  crimes  cry  to  heaven  for  vengeance. 

If,  in  formulating  these  denunciations,  we  are 
calumniating  the  German  army,  or  if  the  military 
authority  had  just  reasons  for  commanding  or 
permitting  those  acts  which  we  call  criminal,  it  is 
to  the  honor  and  the  national  interest  of  Germany 
to  confute  us.  So  long  as  German  justice  is  de- 
nied, we  claim  the  right  and  the  duty  of  denounc- 
ing what,  in  all  sincerity,  we  consider  as  a  grave 
attack  on  justice  and  on  our  honor. 

The  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire,  at  the 


52  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

sitting  on  August  4,  declared  that  the  invasion 
of  Luxembourg  and  of  Belgium  was  "contrary  to 
the  principles  of  international  law."  He  recog- 
nized that,  "in  disregarding  the  rightful  pro- 
testations of  the  Governments  of  Luxembourg 
and  of  Belgium,  he  committed  a  wrong  which  he 
promised  to  make  good."  The  Pope,  alluding 
intentionally  to  Belgium,  as  well  as  condescend- 
ing to  write  in  that  sense  to  the  Minister,  Mon- 
sieur van  der  Heuvel,  by  his  Eminence,  Cardinal 
Gasparri,  Secretary  of  State,  pronounced  in  his 
Consistorial  address  of  January  22,  191 5,  this 
irrevocable  decision:  "It  appertains  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  whom  God  has  set  up  as  sovereign  in- 
terpreter and  avenger  of  'eternal  law,'  to  pro- 
claim, before  all  things,  that  no  one  can  for  any 
reason  whatever  violate  justice." 

Since  then,  however,  politicians  and  casuists 
have  attempted  to  evade  or  to  weaken  those 
decisive  words.  In  their  reply  to  the  French 
CathoHcs,  the  German  Catholics  indulge  in  the 
same  paltry  subtleties,  and  would  Hke  to  prove 
them  by  a  fact.  They  have  at  their  disposal 
two  testimonies:  one,  anonymous,  from  someone 
who  said  he  saw,  on  July  26,  some  French 
officers  on  the  Boulevard  Anspach,  at  Brussels, 
in  conversation  with  some  Belgian  officers;  the 
other  was  from  a  certain  Gustave  Lochard,  of 
Rimogne,  who  deposes  that  "two  regiments  of 
French    dragoons,    the    28    and    the    30,   and    a 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  53 

battery  crossed  the  Belgian  frontier  on  the 
evening  of  July  31,  1914,  and  remained  entirely 
on  Belgian  soil  for  the  whole  following  week." 

Now,  the  Belgian  Government  declare  "that 
before  the  declaration  of  war,  no  French  troop, 
however  small,  had  entered  Belgium."  And 
they  add,  "There  is  no  honest  evidence  which 
can  confute  this  assertion." 

The  Government  of  our  King  therefore  declares 
the  statement  of  the  German  Catholics  to  be  an 
error. 

Here  we  have  a  question  of  paramount  im- 
portance, both  political  and  moral,  on  which  it 
is  our  duty  to  enlighten  the  public  conscience. 

But  if,  nevertheless,  you  decline  the  examina- 
tion of  this  general  question,  we  would  ask  you, 
at  any  rate,  to  attempt  to  check  the  evidence 
upon  which  the  German  CathoHcs  have  rehed 
as  decisive  against  us.  The  deposition  of  this 
Gustave  Lochard  rests  on  facts  easy  to  check. 
The  German  Catholics  will  be  anxious  to  clear 
themselves  of  the  reproach  of  error  and  will 
make  it  a  duty  to  their  consciences  to  retract, 
if  they  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  deceived 
to  our  prejudice. 

We  are  well  aware  that  you  are  reluctant  to 
beheve  that  the  regiments  whose  discipline, 
honesty,  and  religious  faith  you  say  you  know, 
could  have  allowed  themselves  to  commit  the 
inhuman   deeds   with  which  we   reproach   them. 


54  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

You  want  to  persuade  yourselves  that  it  is  not  so, 
because  it  cannot  be  so. 

And,  constrained  by  the  evidence,  we  reply  to 
you  that  it  can  be,  because  it  is. 

In  face  of  facts  no  presumption  holds  good. 

For  you,  as  for  us,  there  is  only  one  issue: 
the  proof  of  the  facts  by  a  commission  whose 
impartiality  is,  and  appears  to  all,  unimpeach- 
able. 

We  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  your 
feelings. 

Pray  believe  that  we  also  respect  the  spirit  of 
discipline,  of  industry,  and  of  faith,  of  which  we 
had  so  often  received  proofs  and  witnessed  the 
manifestations  amongst  your  fellow  countrymen. 
Very  many  are  the  Belgians  who  confess  to-day 
the  bitterness  of  their  deception.  But  they  have 
lived  through  the  sinister  events  of  August 
and  September.  In  spite  of  themselves  the  truth 
has  overcome  their  most  deeply  rooted  impres- 
sions. 

The  fact  is  no  longer  to  be  denied  —  Belgium 
has  suffered  martyrdom. 

When  foreigners  from  neutral  countries  — 
Americans,  Dutch,  Swiss,  Spaniards  —  question 
us  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  German  invasion 
was  conducted,  and  when  we  tell  them  of  certain 
scenes  to  the  horror  of  which,  in  spite  of  our- 
selves, we  are  compelled  to  testify,  we  strive  to 
lessen  the  impression  which  the  narrative  would 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  55 

make,  feeling  that  the  naked  truth  passes  the 
bounds  of  credibiHty. 

Nevertheless,  when,  in  presence  of  the  whole 
evidence,  you  have  been  able  to  analyze  the 
causes,  both  remote  and  immediate,  of  what 
one  of  your  generals  (in  face  of  the  ruins  of  the 
little  village  of  SchafFen-lez-Diest,  and  of  the 
martyrdom  of  the  pastor  of  the  parish)  called  "a 
tragic  error";  when  you  have  heard  of  the  in- 
fluences which  your  soldiers  were  under  at  the 
moment  they  entered  Belgium,  in  the  intoxica- 
tion of  their  first  successes,  the  a  priori  unlikeli- 
hood of  the  truth  will  appear  to  you,  as  to  us,  less 
of  a  stumbling-block. 

Above  all.  Your  Eminences  and  venerated 
Colleagues,  do  not  allow  yourselves  to  be  kept 
back  by  the  empty  pretext  that  an  inquiry  to-day 
would  be  premature. 

Strictly  speaking,  we  might  say  so,  on  our  side, 
because,  at  the  present  hour  the  inquiry  would 
take  place  under  conditions  unfavorable  to  us. 
Our  population  has  been  in  truth  so  deeply  ter- 
rified, the  prospect  of  reprisals  is  still  so  threaten- 
ing, that  the  witnesses,  whom  we  shall  call  before 
a  tribunal,  consisting  partly  of  Germans,  will 
hardly  dare  to  tell  the  complete  truth. 

But  there  are  decisive  reasons  against  any 
delay. 

The  first,  which  will  most  directly  touch  your 
hearts,  is  that  we  are  the  weak  and  you  are  the 


^6  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Strong.  You  would  not  wish  to  abuse  your  power 
over  us. 

Public  opinion  ordinarily  is  with  him  Vvho  first 
makes  himself  master  of  it. 

Now,  while  you  have  complete  freedom  to 
inundate  neutral  countries  with  your  publica- 
tions, we  are  imprisoned  and  reduced  to  silence. 
We  are  hardly  allowed  to  raise  our  voices  inside 
our  churches;  the  sermons  in  them  are  censored, 
that  is  to  say,  travestied  by  hired  spies;  conscien- 
tious protests  are  styled  revolt  against  public 
authority;  our  writings  are  stopped  on  the 
frontier,  like  an  article  of  contraband.  You 
alone  enjoy  freedom  of  speech  and  of  pen,  and 
if  you  are  willing,  through  a  spirit  of  charity 
and  justice,  to  procure  a  little  of  the  same  free- 
dom for  the  accused  Belgians  and  to  give  them  the 
opportunity  of  defending  themselves,  it  is  for  you 
to  come  to  their  aid  at  the  first  possible  moment. 
The  old  legal  maxim,  " Audiatur  et  altera  pars" 
is  inscribed,  it  is  said,  above  many  German  law 
courts.  In  any  case,  with  you  as  with  us,  it 
embodies  the  law  in  the  proceedings  of  the  epis- 
copal courts,  and  in  your  case,  too,  no  doubt  as 
in  ours,  it  is  current  in  the  popular  tongue,  under 
this  image:  "He  who  hears  only  one  bell,  hears 
only  one  sound." 

Perhaps  you  will  say:  "It  is  past,  forget  it. 
Instead  of  throwing  oil  on  the  fire,  rather  turn 
your  minds  to  forgiveness  and  unite  your  efforts 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  57 

with  those  of  the  occupying  Power,  which  asks 
only  to  stanch  the  wounds  of  the  unfortunate 
Belgian  people." 

Your  Eminences  and  dear  Colleagues,  do  not 
add  irony  to  injustice. 

Have  we  not  suffered  enough.?  Have  we  not 
been,  are  we  not  yet,  tortured  cruelly  enough .? 

It  is  past,  say  you;  resign  yourselves,  forget. 

Past!  But  all  the  wounds  are  bleeding!  There 
is  not  one  honest  heart  which  does  not  swell 
with  indignation.  When  we  hear  our  Govern- 
ment say  in  the  face  of  the  world:  "He  is  twice 
guilty  who,  after  having  violated  the  rights  of 
another,  still  attempts,  with  the  most  audacious 
cynicism,  to  justify  himself  by  imputing  to  his 
victim  faults  which  he  has  never  committed," 
our  good  folk  stifle  their  curses  only  by  force. 
Only  yesterday  a  countryman  of  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Malines  learned  that  his  son  had  fallen 
on  the  battlefield.  A  priest  was  consoHng  him. 
The  good  man  rephed:  "Oh!  him,  I  give  him 
to  the  country.     But  my  eldest,  they  took  him 

from  me,  the  ,  and  foully  buried  him  in  a 

ditch." 

How  do  you  think  that  we  could  obtain  a 
sincere  word  of  resignation  and  of  pardon  from 
these  poor  creatures  who  have  known  all  these 
tortures,  as  long  as  those  who  have  made  them 
suffer  refuse  to  admit  it,  or  to  utter  a  word  of 
regret,  or  a  promise  of  reparation? 


58  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Germany  cannot  now  restore  to  us  the  blood 
which  she  has  shed,  the  innocent  lives  which  her 
arms  have  destroyed;  but  it  is  in  her  power  to 
restore  to  the  Belgian  people  its  honor,  which  she 
has  violated  or  permitted  to  be  violated. 

We  ask  this  restitution  from  you  —  you  who 
stand  first  among  the  representatives  of  Christian 
morahty  in  the  Church  of  Germany. 

There  is  something  more  profoundly  sad  than 
political  divisions  and  material  disasters.  It  is 
the  hatred  which  injustice,  real  or  supposed, 
stores  up  in  so  many  hearts  created  to  love  one 
another.  Is  it  not  upon  us,  the  pastors  of  our 
people,  that  the  duty  lies  of  helping  to  get  rid 
of  these  bad  feelings,  and  of  reestablishing  on  its 
foundations  of  justice,  to-day  so  shaken,  the  union 
in  love  of  all  the  children  of  the  great  CathoUc 
family  ? 

The  occupying  Power  speaks  and  writes  of  its 
intention  to  stanch  our  wounds. 

But  in  the  tribunal  of  the  world  intention  is 
judged  by  action. 

Now  all  that  we  poor  Belgians,  who  submit  for 
a  time  to  the  domination  of  the  Empire,  know, 
is  that  the  Power  which  has  staked  its  honor  to 
govern  us  according  to  International  Law  codified 
in  the  Hague  Convention,  is  ignoring  its  engage- 
ments. We  are  not  speaking  of  particular  abuses 
committed  against  individuals  or  communes, 
the  character  of  which  can  only  be  estimated  by 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  59 

an  investigation  made  after  hearing  both  sides 
at  the  end  of  this  war.  We  are  considering  at 
present  only  acts  of  the  Government  established 
by  its  official  documents,  posted  up  on  the 
walls  of  our  towns,  and  consequently  involving 
directly  its  responsibility  beyond  any  possible 
question. 

Now  the  breaches  of  the  Hague  Convention, 
since  the  date  of  the  occupation  of  our  provinces, 
are  numerous  and  flagrant.  We  set  them  out 
here  under  headings  and  we  shall  provide,  in  an 
Annex,^  the  proof  of  our  allegations.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  chief  breaches: 

Collective  punishments  imposed  on  account  of 
individual  acts,  contrary  to  Article  50  of  the 
Hague  Convention; 

Compulsory  labor  for  the  enemy,  contrary  to 
Article  52; 

New  taxes,  in  violation  of  Articles  48,  49,  and 

52; 
Abuse  of  requisitions  in  kind,  in  violation  of 

Article  52; 

Disregard  of  the  laws  in  force  in  the  country, 

contrary  to  Article  43. 

These  violations  of  International  Law,  which 

aggravate    our    unhappy    lot    and    increase    the 

ferments  of  revolt  and  hatred  in  hearts  usually 

peaceable    and    kindly    disposed,    would    not    be 

continued  if  those  who  commit  them  did  not  feel 

1  See  page  81. 


6o  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

that  they  were  supported,  if  not  by  the  positive 
approbation,  at  least  by  the  complacent  silence 
of  all  those  who  form  public  opinion  in  their  own 
country. 

Again,  then,  we  confidently  appeal  to  your 
charity;  we  are  the  weak,  you  are  the  strong; 
come  and  judge  whether  it  is  still  permissible  for 
you  to  refuse  your  aid. 

There  are,  moreover,  in  regard  to  the  estab- 
Hshment  of  a  commission  of  inquiry  by  members 
of  the  Catholic  Episcopate,  arguments  of  a  general 
kind. 

We  have  already  dwelt  upon  this.  The  spec- 
tacle which  our  divisions  afford  to  the  world  is 
disconcerting;  it  is  an  occasion  of  scandal  to  it, 
and  awakens  in  it  blasphemous  thoughts. 

Our  people  do  not  understand  how  you  can  be 
unaware  of  the  twofold  flagrant  iniquity  that 
has  been  inflicted  on  Belgium  —  the  violation 
of  our  neutrality  and  the  inhuman  conduct  of 
your  soldiers  —  or  how,  knowing  it,  you  can 
refrain  from  raising  your  voice  to  condemn  it, 
and  to  dissociate  yourselves  from  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  ought  to  scandalize 
your  population,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  is  the 
role  ascribed  by  your  Press  to  the  Belgian  clergy, 
and  to  a  nation  over  which,  for  the  last  thirty  years, 
it  is  well  known  that  a  Catholic  Government  has 
ruled.  "Take  care,"  said  the  Bishop  of  Hildes- 
heim  to  his  clergy,  no  later  than  the  21st   Sep- 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  6 1 

tember,  1914,  "these  charges  which  the  Press  is 
circulating  against  priests,  monks,  and  nuns  of 
CathoUc  nations  are  making  a  rift  between  the 
CathoHcs  and  Protestants  on  German  soil,  and 
the  religious  future  of  the  Empire  is  imperiled.^ 

The  campaign  of  calumnies  against  our  clergy 
and  our  people  has  not  slackened.  Erzberger, 
a  deputy  of  the  Center,  seems  to  have  taken 
upon  himself  to  increase  it.  In  Belgium  itself,  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Antwerp,  on  the  sixteenth 
Sunday  after  Whitsuntide,  one  of  your  priests, 
Heinrich  Mohr,  dared  to  declare  from  the  pulpit 
of  truth  to  the  Catholic  soldiers  of  your  army: 
"Official  documents  have  informed  us  how  the 
Belgians  have  hanged  German  soldiers  on  trees, 
sprinkled  them  with  boiling  liquid,  and  burnt 
them  ahve."^ 

^  "For  in  such  rumors  it  is  not  only  a  question  of  the  honor  of 
colleagues,  but  also  the  endangering  of  the  holy  interests  of  the 
Catholics  in  Germany.  These  rumors,  indeed,  are  calculated  to 
undermine  slowly  the  peaceful  relations  between  the  members  of 
the  different  faiths,  to  bring  about  mistrust,  particularly  towards 
the  clergy,  and  to  cause  deep  vexation  and  confusion  amongst  Catho- 
lics in  non-Catholic  countries.  For  this  reason  it  is  particularly  im- 
portant for  the  priest  in  non-Catholic  countries  to  be  on  his  guard 
against  the  insinuations  which  may  be  current  in  his  parish  with 
regard  to  the  clergy."  Dr.  Adolf  Bertram,  Bishop  of  Hildesheim: 
Vigilance  as  to  Insinuations  as  regards  the  Clergy. 

*  "We  have  read  horrible  things  in  the  official  reports:  how  the 
Belgians  hanged  German  soldiers  on  the  trees,  and  scalded  them 
with  hot  tar  and  burnt  them  alive."  A  sermon  on  the  i6th  Sunday 
after  Whitsuntide,  by  Heinrich  Mohr,  Chaplain  to  the  Forces.  The 
sermon  has  been  published  in  the  periodical,  The  Voice  of  Home, 
No.  34,  Freiburg  in  Br.     1915.     Herder. 


62  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

There  is  only  one  means  of  stopping  these 
calumnies,  and  that  is  to  bring  the  whole  truth 
to  the  light  of  day,  and  to  condemn  the  true 
culprits  publicly  by  religious  authority. 

There  is  another  source  of  scandal  for  honest 
men,  beHevers  or  non-believers,  in  the  habit  of 
giving  prominence  to  the  advantages  and  the 
disadvantages  which  Catholic  interests  would 
derive  from  the  success  either  of  the  Triple  Alli- 
ance or  of  the  Quadruple  Entente.  Professor 
Schrors,  of  the  University  of  Bonn,^  was  the  first, 
so  far  as  we  know,  to  devote  his  leisure  to  these 
alluring  calculations. 

The  religious  results  of  the  war  are  the  secret 
of  God,  and  none  of  us  is  in  the  Divine  confidence. 

But  there  is  a  higher  question  than  that  —  the 
question  of  morality,  of  right,  of  honor. 

"Seek  ye  first,"  said  Our  Lord  in  the  Holy 
Gospel,  "the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you. 

Do  your  duty,  come  what  may! 

Also  we  bishops  at  this  present  moment  have 
a  moral  duty,  and  therefore  a  religious  one,  which 
takes  precedence  of  all  others,  that  of  searching 
out  and  proclaiming  the  truth. 

Did  not  Christ,  whose  disciples  and  ministers 
we  have  the  glorious  honor  to  be,  say:   "For  this 

1  "  Der  Krieg  und  der  Katholizismus,"  by  Dr.  Heinrich  Schrors, 
Professor  of  Catholic  Theology  in  the  University  of  Bonn. 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  63 

cause  came  I  into  the  world  that  I  should  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth. ^  Ego  ad  hoc  veni  in 
mundum,  ut  testimonium  perhiheam  veritati." 

On  the  solemn  day  of  our  episcopal  consecra- 
tion we  vowed  to  God  and  the  Catholic  Church 
never  to  forsake  the  truth,  to  yield  neither  to 
ambition  nor  to  fear  when  it  should  be  necessary 
to  show  our  love  for  it.  Veritatem  diligat,  neque 
earn  unquam  deserat  aut  laudihus  aut  timore 
superatus.^ 

We  have,  therefore,  in  virtue  of  our  vocation, 
a  common  role  and  a  ground  of  sympathy.  Con- 
fusion reigns  in  men's  minds;  what  some  call 
light,  others  designate  as  darkness;  what  is  good 
to  one  is  bad  to  another.  We  cherish  the  hope 
that  the  tribunal  of  impartial  inquiry  to  which  we 
have  the  honor  of  inviting  your  delegates  will 
help  to  dissipate  more  than  one  uncertainty: 
Non  ponat  lucem  tenebras,  nee  tenebras  lucem; 
non  dicat  malum  bonum,  nee  bonum  malum.  With 
all  the  warmth  of  his  prayers,  our  Holy  Father 
the  Pope  calls  for  peace;  in  the  last  letter  he 
deigned  to  address  to  you  at  Fulda,  after  your 
last  meeting,  he  urged  you  —  he  urges  us  all  — 
to  long  for  it  with  him.  But  he  desires  it  only 
if  it  is  based  on  respect  for  the  rights  and  dignity 
of  nations.^    Dum  votis  omnibus  pacem  expetimus, 

^  John  xviii.  37. 

*  Pontificale  Romanum:  de  consecratione  electi  inepiscopum. 

'  Acta  Apostolica  Sedis,  Vol.  VII,  October  6,  1915. 


64  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

atque  earn  quidem  pacem  quae  et  justitiae  sit  opus 
et  populorum  congruat  dignitati. 

We  shall  respond  then  to  the  desire  of  our  com- 
mon Father  by  working  together  to  cause  Truth 
to  shine  forth  and  triumph,  Truth  on  which  must 
rest  justice,  the  honor  of  nations,  and  at  length 
peace. 

We  are.  Your  Eminences  and  Venerated  Col- 
leagues, your  respectful  servants  and  brothers  in 
devotion, 

D.  J.  Card.  Mercier,  Archbishop  of  Malines 

Antoine,  Bishop  of  Ghent  ^ 

Gu STAVE  J.,  Bishop  of  Bruges  ^ 

Thomas  Louis,  Bishop  of  Namur 

Martin  Hubert,  Bishop  of  Liege 

Amedee  Crooij,  Bishop  Designate  of  Tournai 

^  The  Belgian  Bishops  unanimously  decided  to  address  a  joint 
letter  to  the  German  Bishops.  They  have  one  and  all  knowledge 
of  the  scheme  of  the  present  letter  and  have  given  their  adherence 
to  it;  but,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  communicating  with  the  Bishops 
of  Ghent  and  Bruges,  it  has  been  impossible  to  submit  to  them  this 
letter  as  it  was  finally  drawn  up,  and  obtain  their  signatures  to  it. 


Annex  I 

A  letter  addressed  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Liegey  to 
Commandant  Bayer,  Governor  of  Liege^  under 
date  of  August  i8,  1914.. 

Monsieur  le  Commandant, 

I  address  myself  to  you  as  a  man  and  a  Chris- 
tian, and  entreat  you  to  put  an  end  to  the  exe- 
cutions and  reprisals.  I  have  been  informed 
time  after  time  that  several  villages  have  been 
destroyed,  that  persons  of  note,  some  of  whom 
were  priests,  have  been  shot;  that  others  have 
been  arrested,  and  that  all  have  protested  their 
innocence.  As  for  such  as  are  priests  in  my  dio- 
cese, I  cannot  believe  that  a  single  one  has  been 
guilty  of  acts  of  hostility  towards  German  soldiers. 
I  have  visited  several  field-hospitals,  and  I  have 
seen  that  the  wounded  Germans  there  are  cared 
for  with  the  same  attention  as  the  Belgians.  They 
admit  it  themselves.  If  soldiers  of  the  Belgian 
army,  stationed  at  the  outposts,  fired  on  the 
Germans  entering  Belgium,  is  that  a  crime  to  be 
imputed  to  the  civilian  population?  And  even 
if  some  civilians  had  helped  the  soldiers  to  drive 
back  German  scouts,  can  the  entire  population, 
women,  children,  and  priests,  be  held  responsible 
for  it.? 


66  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  discuss  past  acts;  I  only 
ask  you,  in  the  name  of  God  and  of  humanity, 
to  prevent  reprisals  upon  unoffending  popula- 
tions. These  reprisals  can  have  no  useful  end, 
but  will  drive  the  population  to  despair.  I  shall 
be  happy  to  discuss  this  subject  with  you,  for  I 
am  confident  that  you,  like  myself,  wish  to  lessen 
the  evils  of  war  rather  than  to  increase  them. 

At  the  last  moment  I  hear  that  the  cure  of  R. 
has  been  arrested  and  taken  to  the  Chartreuse. 
I  do  not  know  of  what  he  is  accused,  but  I  do  know 
that  he  is  incapable  of  committing  an  act  of  hos- 
tility towards  your  soldiers:  he  is  a  good  priest, 
gentle  and  charitable.  I  will  be  answerable  for 
him,  and  I  beg  you  to  restore  him  to  his  parish. 
Tours,  etc., 

{Signed)  M.  H.  Rutten 

Bishop  of  Liege 

This  letter  received  no  acknowledgment,  but 
the  same  protests  were  renewed,  on  August  21, 
to  General  von  Kolowe,  who  had  meanwhile  be- 
come Military  Governor  of  Liege. 

The  same  protests,  strongly  put  and  energeti- 
cally urged,  were  renewed  on  August  29,  in  an 
interview  with  the  Governor-General  of  occu- 
pied Belgium,  von  der  Goltz  Pasha,  then  residing 
in  the  episcopal  palace  with  his  staff. 

{Signed)  M.  H.  Rutten 

Bishop  of  Liege 


Annex  II 

This  Annex  contains: 

1.  A  letter  from  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Mercier, 
Archbishop  of  Malines,  to  the  Kreischef  of  the 
district  of  MaHnes,  under  date  January  24,  191 5. 

2.  A  communication  from  His  Eminence  the 
Cardinal  of  MaHnes,  forwarded  to  the  General 
Government  through  the  agency  of  Adjutant 
von  Flemming,  under  date  February  10,  191 5. 

3.  A  letter  from  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Namur 
to  the  Military  Governor  of  Namur,  under  date 
April  12,  191 5. 

4.  A  note  referring  to  a  partial  inquiry  made 
by  an  Austrian  priest  appointed  by  the  Wiener 
Priester  Verein. 

5.  Correspondence  of  the  Cardinal  of  Malines 
with  His  Excellency  the  German  Governor- 
General  on  the  question  of  outrages  suffered  by 
the  nuns. 

I.  In  his  pastoral  letter  of  Christmas,  1914, 
the  Cardinal  of  MaHnes  published  the  names  of 
the  innocent  priests  who  had  been  put  to  death 
by  the  German  troops. 

Count  von  Wengersky,  Kreischef  of  the  District 
of  Malines,  wrote  to  the  Cardinal  on  January  20 
as  follows: 

67 


68  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

The  Kreischef  Tgb.  No.  268/11. 

Malines,  January  20th,  1915. 

To  His   Eminence  the  Cardinal  Archbishop 
OF  Malines, 
According  to  a  newspaper  notice  several  inno- 
cent priests  are  stated  to  have  been  put  to  death 
in  the  diocese  of  Malines. 

In  order  that  an  inquiry  may  be  set  on  foot 
may  I  beg  Your  Eminence  to  be  so  good  as  to 
let  me  know  whether  any  priests,  and,  if  so, 
which,  have  been  put  to  death,  being  innocent, 
in  the  diocese  of  Malines. 

I  am  very  anxious  to  learn  what  circumstances 
have  led  up  to  this,  which   troops   prove  to   be 
concerned,  and  on  which  days  it  happened. 
The  Kreischef 
{Signed)  Wengersky 

Colonel 
The  Cardinal  replied  as  follows  to  Count  von 

Wengersky: 

The  Palace  of  the  Archbishop, 
Malines,  January  2\th,  1915. 

M.  le  Kreischef, 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  268/11,  dated  January  20,  which 
you  have  been  so  good  as  to  address  to  me. 

The  names  of  the  priests  and  monks  of  the 
diocese  of  Malines,  who,  to  my  knowledge,  were 
put  to  death  by  the  German  troops,  are  as  fol- 
lows: Dupierreux,  of  the  Company  of  Jesus; 
Brother  Sebastien  Allard,  of  the   Society  of  St. 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  69 

Joseph;  Brother  Candida,  of  the  Society  of  the 
Brothers  of  Our  Lady  of  Pity ;  Father  Vincent,  Con- 
ventual; Carette,  a  professor;  Lombaerts,  Goris, 
de  Clerck,  Dergent,  Wouters,  Van  Bladel,  cures. 

At  Christmas  time  I  was  not  perfectly  certain 
what  had  been  the  fate  of  the  cure  of  Herent. 
Since  then  his  dead  body  has  been  discovered  at 
Louvain  and  identified. 

Other  figures  quoted  in  my  pastoral  letter  must 
be  increased  to-day.  Thus  for  Aerschot  I  gave  the 
number  of  victims  as  91.  Now  the  total  number 
of  bodies  cf  natives  of  Aerschot  which  have  been 
exhumed  had  risen  a  few  days  ago  to  143.  But 
this  is  not  the  moment  to  dwell  upon  these  par- 
ticular cases;  the  proper  place  to  give  an  account 
of  them  will  be  at  the  inquiry  of  which  you  give 
me  hopes. 

It  will  be  a  consolation  to  me  to  have  full  light 
thrown  upon  the  events  which  I  was  compelled 
to  mention  in  my  Pastoral  Letter  and  on  others 
of  the  same  nature. 

But  it  is  essential  that  the  results  of  this  in- 
quiry should  be  made  plain  to  all  upon  indis- 
putable authority. 

To  insure  this,  I  have  the  honor  to  propose  to 
you,  M.  Le  Comte,  and,  through  your  kind 
intervention,  to  the  German  authorities,  that  the 
commission  of  inquiry  should  be  composed  in 
equal  numbers  of  German  representatives  and 
of    Belgian    magistrates,    chosen    by    our    Chief 


yo  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Magistrate,  and  presided  over  by  a  representa- 
tive of  a  neutral  country.  I  venture  to  hope  that 
his  Excellency,  the  United  States  Minister,  would 
not  refuse  to  accept  this  chairmanship,  or  to 
intrust  it  to  a  representative  of  his  own  choice. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  M.  le  Kreischef, 
{Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines. 
Monsieur  le  Comte  von  Wengersky,  Kreischef,  Malines. 

This  request  met  with  no  reply. 

2.  On  February  lo,  191 5,  Adjutant  von 
Flemming  called  at  the  Palace  of  Malines,  in  the 
name  of  the  Kreischef,  to  repeat  verbally  the 
questions  to  which  the  Cardinal  had  already 
replied  in  writing  in  his  letter  of  January  24. 
The  Cardinal  informed  the  Adjutant  that  ques- 
tions of  this  nature  must  be  formulated  and 
answered  in  writing.  In  consequence,  he  drew 
up,  in  the  following  terms,  the  questions  of  the 
Kreischef  and  the  replies  which  they  admitted 
of,  and  the  document  was  then  signed  by  the 
Adjutant  and  the  Cardinal  of  Malines. 

The  Palace  of  the  Archbishop,  Malines. 

Monsieur  I'Adjutant  von  Flemming  asks  me 
in  the  name  of  the  General  Government: 

1.  Which  are  the  communes  where  priests  have 

been  shot.? 

2.  Which  troops  put  them  to  death  and  on  what 

day? 


AN  APPEAL  TO   TRUTH  7I 

3.   Whether  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  maintains 
that  these  priests  were  innocent? 

1.  The  names  of  the  communes  have  been  already 

printed  in  my  Pastoral  Letter  of  Christmas, 
1914,  on  page  65. 

2.  The  German  Staff  is  in  a  better  position  than 

anyone  else  to  know  what  troops  were  occu- 
pying a  commune  on  any  particular  day. 
The  populations  easily  recognize  the  German 
uniform,  but  do  not  distinguish,  for  the 
most  part,  the  regiments  which  compose 
the  army. 

3.  My  personal  and  reasoned  conviction  is  that 

the  priests  whose  names  I  have  quoted  were 
innocent.     But,  as  a  matter  of  law,  it  is  not 
for  us  to  establish  their  innocence;   it  is  for 
the  military   authorities  who   have  treated 
them  with  this  severity  to  estabhsh  their  guilt. 
Witnesses   summoned   to  give  evidence  before 
a  one-sided   committee  will  generally   be   afraid 
of  telling  the  whole  truth.    This  can  only  be  fully 
known   and   universally   accepted   on   the   condi- 
tion that  a  mixed  commission  should  be  formed 
to  collect  it  and  to  guarantee  its  impartiality  and 
exactitude. 

Also  I  can  only  repeat  for  the  third  time  my 
proposal  ^    for    a    mixed    Commission,    composed 

^  The  proposal  was  formulated  a  first  time  in  writing  on  January 
24,  and  repeated  verbally  on  February  8,  by  Monsignor  van  Roey, 
Vicar  General,  who  had  been  summoned  to  the  Commandatur  at 
Malines. 


72  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

partly  of  German  magistrates  and  partly  of  Bel- 
gian magistrates,  whose  work  it  would  be  to  throw 
full  light  on  those  facts,  concerning  which  the 
General  Government  most  properly  desires  to 
institute  an  inquiry.  In  order  to  give  all  de- 
sirable authority  to  the  results  of  the  inquiry, 
it  is  of  importance  that  the  tribunal  should  be 
presided  over  by  a  representative  of  a  neutral 
State. 

Given  at  Malines,  February  lo,  191 5. 

{Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines 
(Signed)  Von  Flemming 
Rittmeister  und  Adjutant  des  Kreischefs  in  Mecheln 

This  letter  remained  without  reply. 

3.  On  the  occasion  of  the  publication  of  a  con- 
fidential letter  from  the  Prussian  Minister  of 
War  to  the  High  Chancellor,  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Namur  published  a  reply  to  that  document  on 
April  12,  1915. 

But  the  MiHtary  Governor  of  Namur  disputed 
the  assertions  contained  in  the  bishop's  reply, 
without,  however,  entering  into  any  particulars. 

The  latter  maintained  his  statements,  and 
added:  "In  consideration  of  the  difference  of 
views  which  separates  us,  there  is  only  one  way 
of  bringing  the  facts  to  the  Hght  and  before  the 
eyes  of  everyone,  namely,  to  intrust  their  ex- 
amination  to   the  commission  of  inquiry  which 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  73 

I    have    proposed.      I    am    confident    that   Your 
Excellency  will  agree  with  this,  and  will  recom- 
mend the  suggestion  to  the  Governor-General." 
(Signed)  T.  L.,  Bishop  of  Namur 
The  proposal  of  the  Lord   Bishop   of  Namur 
received  no  reply. 

4.  A  priest  accredited  by  His  Eminence  Car- 
dinal Piffl,  Prince  Archbishop  of  Vienna,  made 
an  inquiry  in  Belgium  in  the  name  of  the  Wiener 
Priester  Verein.  The  results  of  this  incomplete 
inquiry  were  published  in  the  Tijd,  of  Amster- 
dam, and  in  the  Politiken,  of  Copenhagen.  They 
are  overwhelmingly  against  the  German  military 
authorities.  But,  if  we  are  correctly  informed, 
the  German  and  Austrian  newspapers  abstained 
from  bringing  them  to  the  knowledge  of  their 
readers. 

5.  Before  closing  this  Annex  relating  to  the 
inquiries,  we  have  to  correct  a  mistake. 

In  their  reply  to  the  French  Catholics,  the 
German  Catholics  speak  of  the  outrages  upon 
the  nuns,  and  write:  "The  German  Governor- 
General  in  Belgium  has  addressed  the  Belgian 
bishops  on  this  subject.  .  .  .  The  Archbishop 
of  Malines  has  allowed  it  to  be  known  that  he 
could  furnish  no  exact  information  as  to  any 
case  whatever  of  the  outrages  upon  nuns  in  his 
diocese." 

This  last  phrase  is,  in  substance,  correct,  but 


74  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

gives  a  wrong  impression  to  the  casual  reader. 
What  I  wrote  to  the  Governor-General  was, 
that  I  could  furnish  him  with  no  exact  information, 
because  my  conscience  forbade  me  to  hand  over 
to  a  tribunal  of  any  kind  the  information  (alas! 
very  precise)  in  my  possession.  Outrages  have 
been  committed  upon  nuns.  I  think  they  are, 
fortunately,  not  numerous,  but  to  my  knowledge 
there  have  been  several.  Since  the  Governor- 
General  has  thought  himself  entitled  to  give  the 
public  an  extract  from  the  reply  I  had  the  honor 
of  addressing  to  him  on  this  delicate  subject,  it  is 
my  duty  to  reproduce  here  the  entire  text  of  our 
correspondence. 

The  following  is  the  letter  of  March  30,  1915, 
written  to  me  by  the  Governor-General: 

The  Governor-General  of  Belgium. 

Brussels,  March  ^oth,  1915. 

Your  Eminence, 

A  serious  reproach  has  of  late  been  repeatedly 
made  in  the  foreign  press,  together  with  a  num- 
ber of  other  charges,  which  for  the  most  part 
have  already  been  proved  incorrect,  that  German 
soldiers  on  the  march  through  Belgium  did  not 
hesitate  to  assault  Belgian  nuns. 

It  is  superfluous  to  point  out,  as  to  this,  that 
such  misdeeds  (in  case  they  should  prove  true) 
would  certainly  incur  my  own  and  the  German 
Government's  severest  reprobation.    At  the  same 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  75 

time  justice  demands  that  accusations  proved  to 
be  untrue  should  be  duly  repudiated.  I  assume 
that  the  disclosure  of  the  full  truth  corresponds 
with  the  sense  of  justice  as  well  as  with  the 
interests  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

I  think,  therefore,  that  I  may  rely  upon  Your 
Eminence's  cordial  support  when  I  beg  you  to 
help  me  in  my  eflForts  to  discover  the  true  facts. 

The   information   which   Your   Eminence   may 
desire  to  bring  forward  as  to  the  violation  of  nuns 
in  the  said  diocese  will  enable  me   to   take   the 
further  steps  necessary  under  the  circumstances. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  Eminence's  most  obedient, 
(Signed)  Fhr.  Von  Bissing 

To  His  Eminence,  The  Lord  Archbishop  of  Malines. 

This  is  our  reply: 

The  Palace  of  the  Archbishop 
Malines,  April  i6th,  19x5. 

Monsieur  le  Gouverneur  General, 

I  have  received  the  letter  No.  1243  which  your 
Excellency  has  done  me  the  honor  of  addressing 
me,  and  I  regret  having  been  hindered  from  reply- 
ing to  it  earlier. 

There  are  in  fact  rumors  in  circulation,  accepted 
by  certain  papers,  denied  by  others,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  outrages  which  the  Belgian  nuns  have 
had  to  suffer  from  German  soldiers,  and,  in  agree- 
ment with   Your   Excellency,    I    protest   against 


76  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

those  who,  lightly  and  without  proof,  publicly 
announce  or  support  such  odious  accusations. 

But,  when  Your  Excellency  asks  me  to  help  you 
in  throwing  light  upon  whether  these  imputations 
are  well  or  ill  founded,  I  am  obliged  to  ask  you 
a  preliminary  question. 

Has  the  civil  authority  the  right  to  hold  an 
inquiry  upon  facts  of  so  delicate  a  nature? 

Whom  would  it  question  ^ 

The  confessor?  The  doctor?  They  are  bound 
by  professional  secrecy. 

The  Sisters  Superior?  Do  they  always  know 
the  truth  ?  And  if  they  do  know  it,  having  learned 
it  under  the  seal  of  secrecy,  have  they  the  right 
to  speak? 

Who  would  venture  to  question  the  victims? 
Would  not  that  be  cruel?  Who  would  attempt 
to  question  witnesses  at  the  risk  of  exposing 
the  already  wretched  victims  of  violence  to  the 
burden  of  carrying  the  stain  of  dishonor  in  the 
face  of  public  opinion? 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  should  not  dare 
to  subject  anyone  to  an  examination  upon  so 
delicate  a  subject,  and  my  conscience  forbids  me 
to  hand  over  to  another  the  confidences  which 
have  been  made  to  me,  or  might  be  made  to  me, 
spontaneously  on  this  matter. 

Our  duty.  Your  Excellency,  is  to  discourage 
the  public,  by  all  means  in  our  power,  from  giving 
countenance    to    these    capricious    and    unwhole- 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  'J'J 

some  allegations.  I  shall  heartily  approve  of 
repression  by  law  of  those  who,  either  from 
prejudice  or  from  unpardonable  levity,  invent 
or  spread  them.  But  I  consider  that  we  cannot 
go  further  without  trespassing  upon  the  rights  of 
conscience  and  exposing  ourselves  to  the  risk  of 
violating  its  liberty. 

Accept,  Monsieur  le  Gouverneur  General,  the 
assurance  of  my  very  high  regard. 

(Signed)  D.  J.  Card.  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines 

To  His  Excellency, 

Baron  von  Bissing,  Governor-General,  Brussels. 


Annex  III 

We  know,  and  we  affirm,  that  the  German 
army  gave  itself  up  in  Belgium,  in  a  hundred 
different  places,  to  pillage,  to  incendiarism,  im- 
prisonments, massacres,  and  sacrileges,  contrary 
to  all  justice  and  to  every  sentiment  of  humanity. 

There  are  parts  of  Hainault  and  of  the  two 
Flanders,  which  are  still  to-day  under  special 
military  control,  whose  disasters  are  consequently 
less  well  known  to  us.  But  below  is  an  approxi- 
mate list  of  locaHties  which  our  protest  covers. 

I.  Diocese  of  Namur.  Provinces  of  Namur 
and  of  Luxembourg. 

Tamines,  Surice,  Spontin,  Namur,  Ethe,  Gom- 
ery,  Latour,  Aische-en-Refail,  Alle,  Arsimont, 
Auvelais,  Bonnines,  Bourseigne-Neuve,  Bouge, 
Daussois,  Dourbes,  Ermeton-sur-Biert,  Evre- 
hailles,  Felenne,  Fosses,  Franchimont,  Franc- 
Waret,  Frasne,  Gedinne,  Gelbressee,  Hansinelle, 
Hanzinne,  Hautbois,  Hastiere,  Hermeton-sur- 
Meuse,  Hingeon,  Houdremont,  Jemeppe-sur- 
Sambre,  Lisogne,  Louette-Saint-Pierre,  Mariem- 
bourg,  Mettet,  Monceau,  Morville,  Onhaye,  Oret, 
Petigny,  Romedenne,  Somme-Leuze,  Somzee, 
Stave,  Temploux,  Villers-en-Fagne,  Wartet, 
Waulsort,  Willerse,  Yvoir,  Anloy,  Assenois,  Ba- 
ranzy,  Bertrix,  Briscol,  Etalle,   Framont,   Frene- 

78 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  79 

Opont,  Freylange,  Glaumont,  Glaireuse,  Hamipre, 
Herbeumont,  Izel,  Jehonville,  Maissin,  Manhay, 
Musson,  Mussy-la-Ville,  Neufchateau,  Pin,  Saint- 
Leger,  etc.,  etc, 

Thibessart,  Biesme,  Porcheresse,  Graide, 
Nothomb,  Rulles,  Rosiere-la-Grande,  Bovigny, 
Gouvy,  Champion,  Jamoigne,  Silenrieux,  Les 
Bulles,  Tintigny,  Ansart,  Rossignol,  Sorinne, 
Bievre,  Beheme,  Leglise,  LanefFe,  Frenois,  Villers- 
devant-Orval,  Couvin,  Houdemont,  Chiny, 
Anthee,  Ychippe,  Conneux,  Aye,  Evelette, 
Florenville,  Hollogne,  Le  Boux,  Leuze,  Marche, 
Sainte-Marie,  Saint-Vincent. 

Andenne,  Dinant. 

2.  Diocese  of  Liege.  Provinces  of  Liege  and 
of  Limhourg. 

Battice,  Herv,  Bise,  Mouland,  Hermee,  Hallem- 
baye,  Louvegne,  Lince,  Poulseur,  Soumagne, 
Fecher,  Melin,  Julemont,  Barchon,  Lummen, 
Haelen,  — ,  Lanaeken. 

3.  Diocese  of  Malines.  Provinces  of  Brabant 
and  of  Antwerp. 

Haekendover,  Autgaerden,  Grimde,  Hougaerde, 
Cumptich,  Hautem-Sainte-Marguerite,  Vissen- 
aeken,  Bunsbeek,  Lubbeek-Saint-Bernard,  Wever, 
Attenrode,  Cappellen  (Glabbeek),  Cortryck- 
Dutzel,  Glabbeek,  Pellenberg,  Neer-Linter, 
Budingen,  Heelen-bosch,  Orsmael-Gussenhoven, 
Corbeek-Loo,  Lovenjoul,  Roosbeek,  Schaffen, 
Molenstede,  Wersbeek,  Aerschot,  Rillaer,  Gelrode, 


80  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Wesemael,  Hersselt,  Rethy,  Haecht,  Rotselaer, 
Wackerzeel,  Werchter,  Tremeloo,  Thildonck, 
Wespelaer,  Boortmeerbeek,  Rymenam,  Hever, 
Louvain,  Heverle,  Herent,  Berg,  Campenhout, 
Bueken,  Neder-Ockerzeel,  Cortenberg,  Delle, 
Boisschot,  Goor,  Heyst-op-den  Berg,  Beersel, 
Putte,  Schrieck,  Malines,  Bonheyden,  Wavre- 
Notre-Dame,  Wavre-Sainte-Catherine,  Waelhem, 
Leest,  Hombeek,  Sempst,  Laer,  Hofstade,  Muysen, 
Schiplaeken,  Konings-Hoyckt,  Kessel,  Lierre, 
DufFel,  Blaesveld,  Perck,  Peuthy,  Hautem, 
Elewyt,  Weerde,  Eppeghem,  Pont-Brule,  Grim- 
berghen,  Londerzeel,  Meysse,  Humbeek,  Nieuwen- 
rode,  Beyghem,  Wolverthem,  Cappelle-au-Bois, 
Linsmeau,  Wavre,  Mousty. 

4.  Diocese  of  Ghent.     Eastern  Flanders, 
Saint-Gilles,  Lebbeke,  Termonde. 

5.  Diocese  of  Tournai.    Province  of  Hainault 
Peronne. 


Annex  IV 

INFRACTIONS    OF   THE    HAGUE    CONVENTION 

Germany  signed  the  Hague  Convention.  The 
first  German  Governor-General,  Baron  von  der 
Goltz,  referred  to  the  Hague  Convention  in  an 
order  pubHshed  by  him  as  early  as  November  12, 
1914. 

The  second  German  Governor-General,  Baron 
von  Bissing,  in  a  solemn  proclamation  of  July  18, 
191 5,  declared  his  wish  to  administer  Belgium  ac- 
cording to  the  Hague  Convention,  regulating  the 
laws  and  customs  of  war  on  land.  .  .  .  He  added : 
"His  Majesty,  the  German  Emperor,  after  the 
occupation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Belgium  by  our 
victorious  troops,  has  intrusted  to  me  the  ad- 
ministration of  this  country,  and  has  ordered  me 
to  carry  out  the  obligations  arising  from  the  Hague 
Convention." 

That  is  the  legal  aspect. 

The  following  is  the  fact: 

I.  Collective  Punishments 
Article  50  of  the  Convention  stipulates,  "No 
collective  penalty,  pecuniary  or  otherwise,  shall 
be  enacted  against  populations  on  account  of 
individual  acts  for  which  they  could  not  be 
considered  as  jointly  responsible." 

81 


82  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Now  the  history  of  the  occupation  covers  three 
periods:  that  of  the  invasion  and  those  over 
which  Baron  von  der  Goltz  and  Baron  von  Bissing 
presided  successively. 

During  the  period  of  the  invasion  collective  pun- 
ishment was  systematically  inflicted  and  under 
every  form.  Proofs  of  this  assertion  abound. 
Here  is  one  which  sufl&ces  in  itself: — As  the  in- 
vasion gained  ground  the  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  army  caused  to  be  posted  up  a  proclama- 
tion in  three  languages,  on  red  paper,  in  which 
he  said: 

The  villages  where  acts  of  hostility  shall  be 
committed  by  the  inhabitants  against  our  troops 
will  he  burned. 

For  all  destruction  of  roads,  railways,  bridges, 
etc.,  the  villages  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  destruc- 
tion will  be  held  responsible. 

The  punishments  announced  above  will  be 
carried  out  severely  and  without  mercy.  The 
whole  community  will  be  held  responsible.  Hostages 
will  be  taken  freely.  The  heaviest  war  taxes 
will  be  levied. 

Under  the  government  of  Marshal  von  der  Goltz 
a  proclamation,  signed  by  the  hand  of  the  Gov- 
ernor-General and  promulgated  on  September  2, 
1914,  in  the  occupied  territory,  expressly  stated: 
"It  is  the  hard  necessity  of  war  that  the  punish- 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  83 

ment  of  hostile  acts  includes  the  innocent  as  well 
as  the  guilty." 

Consequently  collective  punishment  was  applied 
unsparingly. 

Thus,  as  a  typical  example,  the  city  of  Brus- 
sels was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  millions, 
because  one  of  its  policemen,  unknown  to 
the  communal  administration,  had  been  want- 
ing in  deference  to  a  functionary  of  the  German 
civil  administration. 

A  notice  signed  Baron  von  der  Goltz,  posted  up 
on  October  7,  1914,  applies  the  collective  penalty 
to  the  family.  It  is  there  stated:  "The  Belgian 
Government  have  sent  orders  to  rejoin  the  army 
to  the  mihtiamen  of  several  classes.  .  .  .  All 
those  who  receive  these  orders  are  strictly  for- 
bidden to  act  upon  them.  .  .  .  In  case  of  dis- 
obedience the  family  of  the  militiamen  will  be  held 
equally  responsible." 

Under  the  government  of  General  Baron  von  Bis- 
singy  that  is  from  December  3,  1914,  the  col- 
lective punishments,  in  violation  of  Article  50, 
have  been  continual.  Here  are  some  specimens. 
On  December  23,  1914,  a  notice  posted  in  Brus- 
sels stated:  "If  the  graves  of  fallen  soldiers  are 
damaged  or  violated,  not  only  will  the  perpetrator 
be  punished,  but  the  commune  will  also  be  made 
responsible." 

A   warning    of   the    Governor-General,    dated 


84  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

January  26,  191 5,  renders  the  members  of  the 
family  responsible  if  a  Belgian  fit  for  military 
service,  between  the  ages  of  16  and  40,  goes  to 
Holland. 

In  fact,  upon  the  flimsiest  pretexts,  heavy 
fines  are  inflicted  on  communes.  The  commune 
of  Puers  was  subjected  to  a  fine  of  3000  marks 
because  a  telegraph  wire  was  broken,  although 
the  inquiry  showed  that  it  had  given  way  through 
wear. 

Malines,  a  working-class  town,  without  re- 
sources, has  had  a  fine  of  20,cx)0  marks  inflicted 
on  it  because  the  Burgomaster  did  not  inform 
the  military  authority  of  a  journey  which  the 
Cardinal,  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  motor-car, 
had  been  obliged  to  make  on  foot. 

2.    Compulsory  Labor  for  the  Enemy 

According  to  Article  52  of  the  Hague  Conven- 
tion, *' requisitions  in  kind  and  service^'  can  be 
claimed  from  communities  or  from  inhabitants 
only  on  three  conditions: 

On  condition  that  they  do  not  place  on  the 
population  any  obligation  to  take  part  in  the 
operations  of  war  against  the  nation. 

On  condition  that  they  are  claimed  only  with 
a  view  to  the  needs  of  the  army  of  occupation. 

On  condition  that  they  are  in  proportion  to 
the  resources  of  those  from  whom  they  are 
demanded. 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  85 

It  is  Striking  to  observe  that  Article  23  con- 
tains a  final  note  proposed  at  the  second  Hague 
Congress,  in  1907,  by  the  German  delegation. 
It  is  as  follows:  "A  belligerent  is  forbidden  to 
force  the  subjects  of  an  enemy  country  to  take 
part  in  operations  of  war  directed  against  their 
country." 

But  — 

I.  At  the  time  of  the  invasion^  Belgian  civilians, 
in  twenty  places,  were  made  to  take  part  in 
operations  of  war  against  their  own  country. 
At  Termonde,  Lebbeke,  Dinant,  and  elsewhere 
in  many  places,  peaceable  citizens,  women,  and 
children  were  forced  to  march  in  front  of  German 
regiments  or  to  make  a  screen  before  them. 

At  Liege  and  at  Namur  civilians  were  obliged 
to  dig  trenches  and  were  employed  on  works  of 
repairs  at  fortifications. 

The  system  of  hostages  was  carried  out  with 
a  fierce  cruelty.  The  proclamation  of  August  4, 
quoted  above,  declared,  without  circumlocution: 
"Hostages  will  be  freely  taken." 

An  official  proclamation,  posted  at  Liege,  in 
the  early  days  of  August,  ran  thus:  "Every 
aggression  committed  against  the  German  troops 
by  any  persons  other  than  soldiers  in  uniform, 
not  only  exposes  the  guilty  person  to  be  imme- 
diately shot,  hut  will  also  entail  the  severest  reprisals 
against  all  the  inhabitants  and  especially  against 
those  natives  of  Liege  who  have  been  detained  as 


86  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

hostages  in  the  citadel  of  Liege  by  the  Commandant 
of  the  German  troops." 

These  hostages  are  Monsignor  Rutten,  Bishop 
of  Liege,  M.  Kleyer,  burgomaster  of  Liege,  the 
senators,  representatives,  and  the  permanent 
deputy  and  sheriff  of  Liege. 

2.  Under  the  government  of  Field-Marshal  von 
der  Goltz  the  requisitions  for  personal  service  in 
force  in  the  month  of  August  were  continued 
under  every  form  —  digging  trenches,  work  on 
the  fortifications,  carting,  work  on  the  roads, 
bridges,  railways,  etc. 

An  order  of  the  Governor-General,  published 
on  November  19,  declared:  "Whosoever  at- 
tempts to  prevent  by  force,  threat,  persuasion^ 
or  other  means,  any  persons  disposed  to  carry 
out  any  work  for  purposes  required  by  the  Ger- 
man authorities  from  so  carrying  out  this  work, 
or  obstructs  any  contractors  intrusted  by  such 
authorities  with  the  execution  of  this  work,  will 
be  punished  with  imprisonment."  The  order  does 
not  fix  the  term  of  this  imprisonment;  it  is  a 
purely  arbitrary  measure.  As  to  the  treatment 
of  hostages,  severest  measures  were  enacted. 

A  monstrous  specimen  of  arbitrariness  and 
cruelty  is  the  proclamation  posted  in  the  com- 
munes of  Beyne-Heusay,  Grivegnee,  Bois- 
de-Breux,  by  the  Major  in  command,  Dieck- 
mann,  on  September  8,  1914.  Here  follows  an 
extract: 


AN   APPEAL   TO   TRUTH  87 

"Beginning  with  September  7  I  shall  permit 
persons  from  the  undermentioned  communes  to 
return  to  their  homes.  To  make  sure  that  this 
permission  will  not  be  abused,  the  Burgomasters 
of  Beyne-Heusay  and  of  Grivegnee  must  at  once 
prepare  lists  of  persons  who  will  be  retained  as 
hostages  at  the  fort  of  Fleron. 

"  The  lives  oj  these  hostages  depend  upon  the 
inhabitants  oj  the  previously  named  communes 
comporting  themselves  peaceably  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. 

"I  shall  designate  the  persons  to  be  detained 
as  hostages  from  midday  on  one  day  until  the 
next  midday.  If  the  substitute  has  not  appeared 
in  due  time,  the  hostage  remains  another  24  hours 
at  the  Fort.  After  this  second  24  hours,  the 
hostage  runs  the  risk  of  death  if  the  person  con- 
cerned fails  to  appear.  The  priests  and  burgo- 
masters and  other  members  of  the  council  are  the 
first  to  be  taken  as  hostages." 

3.  Under  the  government  of  Baron  von  Bissing 
the  violations  of  Article  52  were  flagrant.  The 
deeds  which  took  place  in  the  railway  workshops 
at  Luttre  and  Malines,  as  well  as  in  several 
communes  in  Western  Flanders,  are  revolting. 

Judge  of  them: 

On  March  23,  191 5,  at  the  arsenal  at  Luttre, 
the  German  authority  posted  a  notice  demanding 
return  to  work.  On  April  21,  200  workmen  were 
called  for.     On  April  27  soldiers  went  to    fetch 


88  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  workmen  from  their  homes  and  take  them  to 
the  arsenal.  In  the  absence  of  a  workman  a 
member  of  the  family  was  arrested. 

However,  the  men  maintained  their  refusal  to 
work,  "because  they  were  unwilling  to  cooperate 
in  acts  of  war  against  their  country." 

On  April  30  the  requisitioned  workmen  were 
not  released,  but  shut  up  in  the  railway  carriages. 

On  May  4,  24  workmen  detained  in  prison 
at  Nivelles  were  tried  at  Mons,  by  a  court-martial, 
"on  the  charge  of  being  members  of  a  secret 
society,  having  for  its  aim  to  thwart  the  carrying 
out  of  German  military  measures."  They  were 
condemned  to  imprisonment. 

On  May  8,  191 5,  48  workmen  were  shut  up 
in  a  goods  wagon  and  taken  to  Germany. 

On  May  14,  45  men  were  deported  to 
Germany. 

On  May  18  a  fresh  proclamation  announced 
that  the  prisoners  "would  receive  only  dry  bread 
and  water,  and  hot  food  only  every  four  days." 

On  May  22  three  wagons  with  104  workmen 
were  sent  towards  Charleroi, 

In  spite  of  all,  the  patriotic  dignity  of  the  work- 
men got  the  better  of  the  pressure  exerted  on 
them. 

A  similar  course  was  adopted  at  Malines, 
where,  by  various  methods  of  intimidation,  the 
German  authorities  attempted  to  force  the  workers 
at  the  arsenal  to  work  on  material  for  the  rail- 


AN    APPEAL   TO    TRUTH  89 

ways,  as  if  it  were  not  plain  that  this  material 
would  become  war  material  sooner  or  later. 

On  May  30,  191 5,  the  Governor-General 
announced  that  he  "would  be  obliged  to  punish 
the  town  of  Malines  and  its  suburbs,  by  stopping 
all  commercial  traffic  if  by  10  a.m.  on  Wednesday, 
June  2,  500  workmen  had  not  presented  them- 
selves for  work  at  the  arsenal." 

On  Wednesday,  June  2,  not  a  single  man 
appeared.  Accordingly,  a  complete  stoppage 
took  place  of  every  vehicle  within  a  radius  of 
several  kilometers  of  the  town. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Cardinal's  journey 
on  foot  was  made  from  Malines  to  Eppeghem,  a 
journey  which  cost  the  town  of  Malines  a  fine  of 
20,000  marks. 

Several  workmen  were  taken  by  force  and  kept 
two  or  three  days  at  the  arsenal. 

The  suspension  of  traffic  lasted  ten  days. 

The  commune  of  Sweveghem  (Western  Flanders) 
was  punished  in  June,  191 5,  because  the  350 
workmen  at  the  private  factory  of  M.  Bekaert 
refused  to  make  barbed  wire  for  the  German 
army. 

The  following  notice  was  placarded  at  Menin 
in  July-August,  191 5: 

By  order:  From  to-day  the  town  will  no  longer 
afford  aid  of  any  description  —  including  assist- 
ance to  their  families,  wives,  and  children  —  to 
any  operatives  except  those  who  work  regularly 


90  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

at  military  work,  and  other  tasks  assigned  to  them. 
All  other  operatives  and  their  famiHes  "can 
henceforward  not  be  helped  in  any  fashion." 

Can  anything  be  more  odious.'' 

Similar  measures  were  taken  in  October,  1914, 
at  Harlebeke-lez-Courtrai,  Bisseghem,  Lokeren, 
and  Mons.  From  Harlebeke  29  inhabitants  were 
transported  to  Germany.  At  Mons,  in  M.  Lenoir's 
factory,  the  directors,  foremen,  and  81  workmen 
were  imprisoned  for  having  refused  to  work  in 
the  service  of  the  German  army.  M.  Lenoir 
was  sentenced  to  five  years'  imprisonment,  the 
five  directors  to  a  year  each,  six  foremen  to  six 
months,  and  the  eighty-one  workmen  to  eight 
weeks. 

The  General  Government  had  recourse  also  to 
indirect  methods  of  compulsion.  It  seized  the 
Belgian  Red  Cross,  confiscated  its  property,  and 
changed  its  purpose  arbitrarily.  It  attempted  to 
make  itself  master  of  the  pubhc  charities  and  to 
control  the  National  Aid  and  Food  Committee. 

If  we  were  to  cite  in  extenso  the  decree  of  the 
Governor-General  of  August  4,  191 5,  concerning 
measures  intended  to  assure  the  carrying  out  of 
works  of  public  usefulness,  and  that  of  August  15, 
191 5,  ^'concerning  the  unemployed,  who,  through 
idleness,  refrain  from  work,''  it  would  be  seen 
by  what  tortuous  means  the  occupying  Power  at- 
tempts to  attack  at  once  the  masters  and  the  men. 

But  it  is  in  the  area  of  military  operations  that 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  9I 

contempt  of  the  Hague  Convention  has  been 
pushed  to  an  extreme. 

'  On  October  12,  191 5,  the  Official  Bulletin  of 
Orders  for  the  district  under  military  operations 
pubHshed  an  order  containing  the  following 
striking  passages: 

''Article  I.  Whoever,  without  reason,  refuses 
to  undertake  or  to  continue  work  suitable  to  his 
occupation,  and  in  the  execution  of  which  the 
military  administration  is  interested,  such  work 
being  ordered  by  one  or  more  of  the  military 
commanders,  will  be  Hable  to  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  one  year.  He  may  also  be  transported 
to  Germany. 

^^ Invoking  Belgian  laws  or  even  international  con- 
ventions to  the  contrary,  can,  in  no  case,  justify 
the  refusal  to  work. 

"On  the  subject  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  work 
exacted,  the  military  commandant  has  the  sole  right 
of  forming  a  decision. 

"  Article  2.  Any  person  who  by  force,  threats, 
persuasion,  or  other  means  attempts  to  influence 
another  to  refuse  work  as  pointed  out  in  Article  i, 
is  liable  to  the  punishment  of  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  five  years. 

"Article  3.  Whoever  knowingly  hy  means  of  aid 
given  or  in  any  other  way  abets  a  punishable 
refusal  to  work,  shall  be  liable  to  a  maximum 
fine  of  10,000  marks,  and,  in  addition,  may  be 
condemned  to  a  year's  imprisonment. 


92  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

"If  communes  or  associations  have  rendered 
themselves  guilty  of  such  an  offense,  the  heads  of 
the  communes  will  be  punished. 

"Article  4.  In  addition  to  the  penalties  stated 
in  Articles  i  and  3,  the  German  authorities  may, 
in  case  of  need,  impose  on  communes,  where, 
without  reason,  work  has  been  refused,  a  fine  or 
other  coercive  police  measures. 

"This  present  decree  comes  into  force  imme- 
diately." 

Der  Etappeinspekteur, 

Von  Unger, 
Generalleutnant 
Ghent,  October  12,  1915. 

The  injustice  and  arbitrariness  of  this  decree 
exceed  all  that  could  be  imagined.  Forced  labor, 
collective  penalties,  and  arbitrary  punishments,  — 
all  are  there.    It  is  slavery,  neither  more  nor  less. 

3.   New  Taxes 

We  will  content  ourselves  with  pointing  out, 
in  a  few  words,  two  taxes  contrary  to  Articles  48, 
49,  51,  and  52  of  the  Hague  Convention. 

The  first  was  levied  by  a  decree  of  Governor- 
General  Baron  von  Bissing,  on  January  16, 
191 5,  It  consists  in  imposing  on  absentees  an 
additional  extraordinary  tax  fixed  at  ten  times 
the  amount  of  the  personal  tax.  This  tax  comes 
into  no  category  of  existing  taxes.    It  strikes  only 


AN    APPEAL    TO    TRUTH  93 

at  one  class  of  citizens  who  have  legitimately 
used  their  right  of  changing  their  place  of  resi- 
dence before  the  occupation  of  the  country. 
It  is,  then,  contrary  to  Articles  48  and  51  of  the 
Convention. 

The  second  violation  of  the  Convention  is  the 
famous  contribution  of  480  millions  imposed  on 
the  nine  provinces,  December  10,   1914. 

The  essential  condition  of  the  legality  of  a 
contribution  of  this  kind,  according  to  the  Hague 
Convention,  is  that  it  should  bear  relation  to  the 
resources  of  the  country  —  Article  52. 

Now,  in  December,  1914,  Belgium  was  devas- 
tated. Contributions  of  war  imposed  on  the 
towns  and  innumerable  requisitions  in  kind  had 
exhausted  her.  The  greater  part  of  the  factories 
were  idle,  and  in  those  which  were  still  at  work 
raw  materials  were,  contrary  to  all  law,  being 
freely  commandeered. 

It  was  on  this  impoverished  Belgium,  living  on 
foreign  charity,  that  a  contribution  of  nearly 
500,000,000  frs.  was  imposed. 

The  decree  of  December  10,  1914,  ran:  "A 
contribution  of  war  is  imposed  upon  the  Belgian 
people,  amounting  to  forty  million  francs,  to  be 
paid  monthly  for  the  period  of  one  year.^^  This 
"period  of  one  year"  has  now  passed. 

But,  as  we  write  these  lines,  the  occupying  Power 
proposes  to  replace  "the  period  of  one  year,"  by 
"the  whole  duration  of  the  war"! 


94  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Poor  little  Belgium!  What  has  she  done  to 
rich  and  powerful  Germany,  her  neighbor,  to  be 
so  trodden  under  foot,  tortured,  calumniated, 
exploited,  and  ground  down  by  her? 

If  we  had  to  furnish  a  complete  statement  of 
the  decrees  and  acts  by  which,  to  our  knowledge, 
the  occupying  Power  has  contravened  the  Hague 
Convention  we  should  have  to  quote  again  the 
abuse  of  requisitions  in  kind  contrary  to  Article  52; 
the  seizure  of  funds  belonging  to  private  companies; 
the  requisition  of  railway  lines  for  hundreds  of 
kilometers;  the  seizure  of  arms,  deposited,  by 
order  of  the  Belgian  Government,  in  the  town 
halls  —  an  abuse  of  Article  53;  the  total  disregard, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  the  penal  law,  of  the 
laws  in  force  in  the  country,  contrary  to  Article  43. 

But  we  cannot  say  all  here,  nor  quote  all. 

If,  however,  our  readers  wish  for  the  proof  of 
the  accusations  merely  indicated  in  this  final 
paragraph,  we  shall  be  glad  to  furnish  them.  There 
is  not  in  our  letter,  nor  in  the  four  annexes,  one 
allegation  of  which  we  have  not  the  proof  in  our 
records. 


Ill 

MT  RETURN  FROM  ROME 


Ill 

MT  RETURN  FROM  ROME 
feast  of  st.  thomas  aquinas 

Dearly  Beloved  Brethren, 

IT  would  be  impossible  to  express  the  joy  I 
feel  at  being  once  more  among  you.  Mis- 
fortune has  brought  us  closer  to  each  other.  Like 
the  early  Christians,  who,  living  under  the  men- 
ace of  perpetual  danger,  were,  as  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures tell  us,  "of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul: 
Credentium  erat  cor  unum  et  anima  una,"^  — 
the  Belgians  have  gathered  round  their  Pastors; 
these  Pastors  have  felt  the  responsibilities  and 
the  ardors  of  paternity  growing  and  expanding 
within  them;  and  to-day,  both  in  invaded  Bel- 
gium and  in  foreign  lands,  the  sons  of  our  soil, 
obeying  a  common  impulse,  ask  us,  more  ur- 
gently than  ever,  to  be  their  interpreters  with 
God,  to  tell  them  what  divine  Providence  de- 
mands from  them  and  allows  them  to  hope  for. 
"The  High  Priest,"  says  the  Apostle  Paul, 
"taken  from  among  men,  is  ordained  for  men  in 
things  pertaining  to  God.      Pontifex,  ex  homini- 

^  Acts  iv.  32. 
97 


98  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

bus  assumptuSy  pro  hominibus  constituitur  in  Us, 
quae  sunt  ad  Deum."  ^ 

I  am  well  aware  how  fervently  and  how  de- 
voutly you  prayed  for  us  during  our  journey. 
Your  petitions  have  been  granted.  My  first 
act  on  my  return  from  Rome  was  to  go  into  our 
dear  Cathedral,  to  address  a  heartfelt  Te  Deum 
to  the  Lord,  and  to  offer  an  act  of  ardent  grati- 
tude to  our  Blessed  Mother,  "the  Cause  of  our 
Joy  —  Causa  nostrae  laetitiae,"  as  also  the  "Virgin 
of  pain  and  tears  —  Dolorosa  et  lacrymabilis  Virgo 
Maria."  Our  Lord,  indeed,  has  blessed  our 
journey  beyond  anything  that  we  dared  to  hope 
for. 

There  are  many  things  I  cannot  tell  you.  You 
will  understand  me.  The  abnormal  conditions, 
to  which  we  have  to  submit,  forbid  us  to  lay 
bare  to  you  all  the  best  and  most  intimate 
things  we  hold  in  our  soul  for  you;  things  which, 
coming  from  a  higher  source  and  touching  you 
more  nearly,  are  my  most  steadfast  support,  and 
would  be,  if  I  could  repeat  them  to  you,  your 
strongest  consolation;  but  you  will  not  doubt 
my  word;  you  will  believe  me  when  I  assure  you 
that  my  journey  was  specially  blessed,  and  that  I 
return  to  you  happy,  very  happy. 

Our  Holy  Father  showed  me  the  most  touch- 
ing kindness.  As  soon  as  I  arrived,  he  deigned 
to  fold  me  in  his  arms;    he  invited  me  to  come 

^  Hebrews  v.  i. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  99 

and  see  him  as  often  as  possible;  he  allowed  me 
to  tell  him  everything,  to  confide  in  him  fully, 
to  think  aloud  before  him.  During  the  many 
hours  I  had  the  consolation  of  spending  in  his 
august  presence,  he  comforted,  illuminated,  and 
encouraged  me  paternally.  He  understands  and 
shares  our  anxieties  concerning  our  religious 
liberties  and  our  patriotic  feelings.  He  was 
good  enough  to  sum  up  his  profound  thought 
on  your  behalf,  which  I  received  most  eagerly, 
in  the  inscription  traced  by  his  own  august  hand 
beneath  his  portrait;  I  here  transcribe  it  for  you 
in  all  simplicity: 

*'  To  our  revered  brother.  Cardinal  Mercier,  Arch- 
bishop of  Mechlin,  We  give  the  Apostolic  Blessing 
with  all  our  heart,  assuring  him  that  We  are  always 
with  him,,  and  that  We  share  his  grief  and  his 
anguish,  inasmuch  as  his  cause  is  our  cause." 

One  day  I  went,  with  my  heart  full  of  grati- 
tude, to  tell  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  that  he  could 
never  doubt  the  perfect  filial  piety  of  the  Belgian 
people,  and  that  we  had  conceived  a  desire  to 
give  him  a  fresh  evidence  of  this  in  the  near 
future.  "Most  Holy  Father,"  I  said,  "we  would 
hke  to  ask  our  faithful  congregations,  through- 
out the  country,  to  take  part  on  the  first  Sunday 
in  May  in  a  general  communion  on  behalf  of 
your  Holiness." 

"And  my  behalf,"  replied  the  Holy  Father  im- 
mediately, "is  that  of  Belgium." 


100  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Encouraged  by  this  reception  of  my  plan,  I 
wrote  to  the  Cardinals  of  Paris,  London,  Armagh 
in  Ireland,  and  Italy,  and  I  am  confident  that 
on  the  first  Sunday  in  May  a  common  Eucharistic 
prayer  will  go  up  to  Heaven  from  all  the  coun- 
tries of  our  Allies;  presented  to  God  by  the 
august  hands  of  the  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
this  prayer  will  hasten  the  glorious  restoration  of 
our  beloved  Belgium.  On  that  day  the  Holy 
Father  gives  all  parish  priests  throughout  the 
country  power  to  bestow  the  Papal  benediction 
on  their  flock,  with  plenary  indulgence  for  the 
souls  of  soldiers  who  have  fallen  on  the  field  of 
honor. 

You  have  already,  I  believe,  heard  echoes  of 
the  acclamations  with  which  the  name  of  Bel- 
gium was  greeted  throughout  our  journey  to 
Switzerland  and  Italy,  and  on  our  way  back. 

Even  supposing,  my  beloved  brethren,  that 
the  final  issue  of  the  gigantic  duel  at  present 
being  fought  in  Europe  and  Asia  Minor  is  un- 
certain, the  moral  triumph  of  Belgium  is  an  ever 
memorable  fact  for  history  and  civilization. 
In  concert  with  your  King  and  your  Govern- 
ment, you  agreed  to  an  immense  sacrifice  in  the 
interests  of  your  fatherland.  Out  of  respect 
for  our  plighted  word;  to  proclaim  that  in  your 
consciences,  right  comes  before  all  else,  you  have 
sacrificed  your  good,  your  homes,  your  sons,  your 
husbands;   and  after  eighteen  months  of  coercion. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  lOI 

you  are  still  proud  of  your  deed,  as  on  the  first 
day.  Heroism  seems  so  natural  to  you  that  it 
does  not  occur  to  you  to  glory  in  it  on  your  own 
account;  but  if  you  had  been  able  to  do  as  we 
have  done,  to  pass  beyond  our  frontiers,  and 
look  at  our  Belgian  fatherland  from  without; 
if  you  could  have  heard  the  voices  of  the  people, 
"the  man  in  the  street,"  as  the  English  say,  I 
mean  the  manual  laborer,  the  humble  employey 
the  women  of  the  working  classes;  if  you  had 
received  the  homage,  written  or  spoken,  of 
those  who  are  the  authorized  representatives  of 
the  great  social  forces,  politics,  the  press,  science, 
art,  diplomacy,  and  religion;  you  would  have 
reahzed  more  fully  the  magnanimity  of  your 
attitude,  and  your  souls  would  have  leaped  with 
joy  and,  even,  I  think,  with  pride. 

The  most  fervid  expressions  of  respect,  of 
admiration,  of  reverence  for  the  moral  greatness, 
the  nobihty  of  soul,  the  calm  tenacious  patience 
of  the  Belgian  nation  reached  us  from  the  cities 
and  villages  of  Switzerland,  Italy,  Spain,  France, 
and  England,  and  went  up,  borne  by  enthusiasm, 
to  those  who  personify  Belgian  patriotism,  our 
Sovereigns,  the  Government,  the  Clergy,  our 
vaHant  army. 

As  to  us,  all  the  homage  we  received  we  re- 
ferred to  you,  for  a  secret  instinct  always  reminded 
us  that  it  was  you  who  deserved  it  and  attracted 
it  by  your  endurance. 


102  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

In  our  hours  of  meditation  we  blessed  Provi- 
dence for  the  progress  it  has  brought  about  in 
pubhc  opinion. 

You  will  remember  how,  some  fifteen  months 
ago,  we  told  you:  Certain  highly  placed  men, 
who  ought  to  have  taken  a  loftier  view  of  events, 
sometimes  went  so  far  as  to  say:  But  after  all, 
was  it  necessary  for  Belgium  to  sacrifice  herself 
thus  in  defense  of  her  territory?  Would  not  a 
verbal  protest  have  sufficed,  and  would  this  not 
have  saved  her  from  the  ravages  that  have  brought 
her  to  the  verge  of  ruin?  This  language,  I  told 
you,  had  roused  my  indignation,  and  more  than 
once  I  had  given  free  utterance  to  that  indigna- 
tion under  the  stimulus  of  internal  revolt. 

Well !  I  never  hear  this  language  on  any  Hps  now. 

Therefore  the  moral  level  of  neutral,  or  for- 
merly neutral  nations,  is  higher.  They  understand 
the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  they  do  homage  to  it,  they 
appreciate  it  in  you,  they  admire  you.  Your  gen- 
eration has  made  a  glorious  entrance  into  history. 

Is  not  this  a  conquest,  my  Brethren,  and,  in 
the    sense    in   which    moral    advantage    is    more, 
highly    esteemed    than    material    advantage,    are 
you  not  the  most  glorious  conquerors? 

I  cannot  refrain  from  applying  to  our  present 
situation  the  words  of  our  Lord  in  the  Gospel: 
"What  shall  a  man  be  profited,  if  he  shall  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  ^ 

^  Matthew  xvi.  26. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  I03 

Oh,  yes!  you  weep,  I  know;  there  is  mourn- 
ing on  every  hand;  the  hearts  of  mothers,  wives, 
and  betrothed  maidens  are  wrung;  lives  are  lost 
on  the  banks  of  the  Yser;  the  captivity  of  the 
nation  on  its  own  soil  is  painfully  prolonged; 
our  finances  are  involved,  our  trade  and  our 
manufactures  are  at  a  standstill;  I  know  all  this, 
and  you  know  me  well  enough,  I  think,  to  rest 
assured  that  I  suffer  because  of  them  with  you, 
and  because  you  are  suffering.  But,  after  all, 
what  are  these  sufferings  of  a  day  in  face  of  the 
eternity  in  which  we  shall  all  sooner  or  later 
Hve  our  true  hves?  What,  finally,  is  the  value 
of  an  earthly  success  which  we  should  have  to 
buy  at  the  price  of  our  eternal  happiness?  What, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  a  momentary  sorrow,  an 
ephemeral  desolation,  a,  humanly  speaking,  pre- 
mature death,  when  we  have  the  provision  of 
an  endless  and  unclouded  happiness  for  those 
Christian  families  who,  having  lived  together  as 
Christians  here  below,  and  having  nerved  them- 
selves with  Christian  courage  to  self-sacrifice,  will 
soon  be  reunited  forever  in  the  bosom  of  our 
Father  which  is  in  Heaven? 

One  day  when  I  was  making  my  way  towards 
the  Church  of  St.  Paul-without-the-Walls,  ac- 
complishing on  your  behalf  the  pilgrimage  I 
had  promised  you  before  my  departure  that  I 
would  undertake,  I  visited  the  basilica  of  St. 
Sebastian,   and   found   it   full  of  fragments,   due 


104  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

to  the  excavations  there  in  progress.  The  archae- 
ologists who  were  directing  the  work  had  brought 
various  inscriptions  to  Hght.  One  of  these  struck 
me  particularly,  and  I  brought  it  away  in  my 
memory  for  you.  It  said:  "£/  nos  in  Deo  omnes. 
—  And  as  to  us,  let  us  all  hold  together  in  God." 

Let  us  take  this  as  the  motto  of  our  hopes; 
let  it  perfectly  sustain  our  courage.  *'  Et  nos  in 
Deo  omnes.     All  together  in  God." 

The  day  will  come  when  we  shall  weep  no 
more,  when  we  shall  no  longer  be  scattered,  when 
our  families  will  be  reunited  never  to  be  parted 
again.  Let  us  think  more  of  Heaven  than  of 
earth.  Let  us  live  there  in  spirit;  as  St.  Paul 
said  to  the  Philippians:  "For  our  conversation 
is  in  Heaven:  Nostra  autem  conversatio  in  coelis 
est."  ' 

The  Christian  is  a  traveler,  whose  home  is  in 
Heaven. 

You  must  remember  that  I  have  never  con- 
cealed my  forebodings  from  you.  I  have  preached 
patriotism  to  you,  because  it  is  an  offshoot  of 
the  greatest  of  Christian  virtues.  Charity.  But 
from  the  first  I  warned  you,  that  in  my  humble 
opinion,  our  trial  would  be  a  long  one,  and  that 
success  would  be  the  guerdon  of  the  nations  who 
could  endure  most  bravely. 

My  conviction,  both  natural  and  supernatural, 
of  our  ultimate  victory  is  more  firmly  rooted  in 

^  Philippians  iii.  20. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  105 

my  soul  than  ever.  If,  indeed,  it  could  have  been 
shaken,  the  assurances  given  me  by  several  dis- 
interested and  careful  observers  of  the  general 
situation,  notably  those  belonging  to  the  two 
Americas,  would  have  sufficed  to  consolidate  it. 

We  shall  triumph,  do  not  doubt  it,  but  we  are 
not  yet  at  the  end  of  our  sufferings. 

France,  England,  and  Russia  have  engaged  not 
to  conclude  peace  until  the  independence  of 
Belgium  is  completely  restored  and  an  ample 
indemnity  has  been  made  to  her.  Italy,  in  her 
turn,  has  given  her  adhesion  to  the  London 
compact. 

Our  future  is  not  doubtful. 

But  we  must  prepare  it. 

We  shall  prepare  it  by  cultivating  the  virtue 
of  patience  and  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice.  "Be 
of  good  courage,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "and  He 
shall  strengthen  your  heart,  all  ye  that  hope  in 
the  Lord.  Viriliter  agite,  et  confortetur  cor  ves- 
truniy  omnes  qui  speratis  in  Domino."  ^ 

Put  your  trust  absolutely  in  Providence;  it 
watches  over  those  who  reverence  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  of  Justice.  Whatever  happens,  never 
doubt  of  Justice.  At  no  other  period  of  my  life 
have  I  seen  its  action  penetrating,  to  all  appear- 
ance, the  most  trivial  circumstances,  the  most 
insignificant  incidents,  the  events  most  foreign 
to   our   personal   calculations,    as   in   this    recent 

^  Psalm  xxxi.  24. 


Io6  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

journey  of  mine.  "We  know  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God," 
said  St.  Paul.  "  Scimus  autem  quoniam  diligen- 
tihus  Deum  omnia  co-operantur  in  bonum."  ^ 

Are  we  not  all  and  always,  more  than  the 
lilies  of  the  field,  and  the  young  bird  that  flut- 
ters in  the  branches,  in  the  hand  of  the  Most 
High?  Draw  your  plans,  set  up  your  batteries, 
arrange  your  movements,  but  still  man  will  pro- 
pose and  God  will  dispose. 

"There  is  no  king  saved  by  the  multitude  of 
an  host,"  says  the  Psalmist;  "a  horse  is  a  vain 
thing  for  safety,  neither  shall  he  deliver  any  by 
his  great  strength.  .  .  .  Our  soul  waiteth  for  the 
Lord;  He  is  our  help  and  our  shield."^ 

Imagine  a  belligerent  nation,  sure  of  its  army 
corps,  its  munitions,  its  commanders,  with  every 
prospect  of  gaining  a  victory.  If  God  should 
allow  the  germs  of  an  epidemic  to  spread  among 
the  ranks,  all  optimistic  previsions  would  at  once 
be  brought  to  naught. 

Therefore,  above  all  things,  put  your  trust  in 
God.  Invoke  His  favor  by  purifying  your  con- 
sciences. Cleanse  your  homes.  Let  purity, 
modesty,  and  Christian  simplicity  reign  there. 
Prepare  in  contrition  for  the  performance  of 
your  Easter  duties.  Do  not  isolate  yourselves 
in  the  Church.    You  are  in  her  maternal  breast; 

*  Romans  viii.  28. 

^  Psalm  xxxviii.  16-20. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  I07 

live  in  her  spirit.  Lent  is  the  season  when  the 
Church  awaits  in  prayerful  lamentation,  in  priva- 
tion and  suffering,  reconciliation  with  her  prodi- 
gal children,  the  birth  of  catechumens  to  divine 
life.  Lament,  pray,  deny  yourselves,  suffer  with 
your  Mother. 

As  a  general  measure,  we  have  thought  it  well 
to  give  you  dispensation  from  the  rules  of  fast- 
ing and  abstinence,  save  on  Ash  Wednesday 
and  Good  Friday,  but  if  you  do  not  feel  the  need 
for  them,  do  not  take  advantage  of  all  the  dis- 
pensations; impose  certain  voluntary  supere- 
rogatory mortifications  upon  yourselves.  Apply 
yourselves  to  meditation;  watch  over  your  senses 
and  the  inclinations  of  your  hearts,  that  your 
souls  may  freely  soar  to  Him  who  is  your  sole 
Good,  and  who  alone  can  give  you  peace,  that  is, 
serenity  with  order. 

Pray,  pray  confidently,  pray  perseveringly. 
Pray  at  night  with  your  families.  Attend  the 
Sunday  Offices,  Mass,  Vespers,  and  Benediction. 

Above  all,  my  beloved  Brethren,  attend  the  Holy 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  whenever  you  have  time, 
and  participate  in  it  by  Holy  Communion.  At 
present  many  of  you  are  less  strenuously  occu- 
pied than  formerly,  and  are  freer  to  dispose  of 
your  time.  Could  you  not,  by  exerting  your 
good  will,  spend  half  an  hour  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar,  in  a  union  of  your  souls  with  our  Lord 
Jesus   Christ,   not  only   on   Sundays,   but   daily. 


I08  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

praying  for  our  country,  for  our  heroes  on  the 
Yser,  Hving  or  dead,  for  those  who  are  suffering 
and  dying?  He  is  there,  our  Divine  Lord;  He 
comes  to  remind  us  that  He  was  preeminently 
the  Man  of  Sorrows,  acquainted  with  grief: 
virum  dolorum  et  scientem  infirmitatum;  ^  but  He 
is  risen.  He  is  in  the  triumph  of  His  glory  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  Eternal  Father;  and  if  He 
deigns  to  dwell  among  us,  and  to  give  Himself 
for  our  food  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  it  is  that  He 
may  fill  us  with  His  hfe,  and  help  us  to  tread 
the  path  of  suffering  with  Him,  that  so  we  may 
follow  Him  into  the  joy  of  the  everlasting  tab- 
ernacles. Courage,  my  Brethren;  listen  to  my 
exhortations;  attend  Mass  daily,  take  your  missal 
with  you,  follow  the  priest  closely  in  it,  partake 
with  him  of  the  Eucharistic  feast,  and  you  will 
soon  perceive  that  your  life  is  being  transformed, 
and  that  our  Divine  Jesus  does  not  deceive  us 
when  He  says:  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  refresh  you. 
Venite  ad  me  omnes  qui  laboratis  et  onerati  estis 
et  ego  reficiam  vos."  ^ 

Let  us  more  especially  invoke  St.  Joseph  during 
this  month  of  March,  which  popular  piety  dedi- 
cates to  him.  Let  us  celebrate  his  festival.  Let 
us  commend  our  families  to  him  and  confide  our 
soldiers  to  his  care. 

^  Isaias  liii.  3. 
*  Matthew  xi.  29. 


MY   RETURN    FROM    ROME  IO9 

As  we  write  this  conclusion,  the  newspapers 
bring  us  a  summary  of  a  letter  addressed  by  the 
Sovereign  PontiflP  to  the  Cardinal  Vicar,  in  which 
His  Holiness  expresses  a  dual  wish,  to  which  we 
hasten  to  respond. 

The  Holy  Father  implores  Divine  Mercy  to 
put  an  end  to  the  conflict  which  is  steeping 
Europe  in  blood.  During  Lent  we  desire  priests 
to  replace  the  Collect  pro  tempore  belli  by  the 
Collect  pro  pace. 

The  Holy  Father  further  asks  that,  on  Good 
Friday,  all  mourning  mothers  and  wives  should 
stand  with  the  Mother  of  Jesus  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross  and  unite  their  sacrifice  with  the  blood- 
stained Sacrifice  of  the  Redemption.  We  will 
all  associate  ourselves  with  the  ideas  of  His 
Holiness.  Belgium  has  already  been  dedicated 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  and  to  St.  Joseph. 
On  Good  Friday  we  will  dedicate  ourselves  to 
the  sorrowful  and  immaculate  Heart  of  Mary. 
We  delight  in  honoring  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  this  is  well;  but 
together  with  this  privilege,  freely  conferred  by 
God  on  her  who  was  to  be  His  Mother,  let  us 
remember  the  title  Mary  acquired  by  her  suffer- 
ings to  our  gratitude.  Pierced  by  the  sword  of 
spiritual  martyrdom,  the  Heart  of  Mary  volun- 
tarily associated  its  Compassion  with  the  Immo- 
lation of  the  Divine  Victim  of  Calvary,  for  the 
redemption  of  our  souls. 


no  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

The  evil  hours  we  are  experiencing  urge  us  to 
have  recourse  more  especially  to  the  Meditation 
of  our  Lady  of  Sorrows. 

Therefore,  in  response  to  the  ardent  wish  which 
has  been  expressed  to  me,  I  will,  during  the 
office  of  Good  Friday,  consecrate  in  the  depths 
of  my  soul,  my  diocese,  and  as  far  as  lies  in  my 
power,  our  dear  country  to  the  sorrowful  and  im- 
maculate Heart  of  Mary.  I  exhort  our  priests  to 
unite  with  me  in  this  intention,  and  the  faithful 
to  repeat  devoutly  the  following  invocation,  to 
which  I  have  already,  on  a  former  occasion,  at- 
tached an  indulgence  of  loo  days:  Sorrowful  and 
immaculate  Heart  of  Mary^  pray  for  us,  who  ask 
thy  help. 

D.  J.  Card.  Mercier, 
Archbishop  of  Malines. 


IV 

FOR   OUR   SOLDIERS 


IV 

FOR  OUR  SOLDIERS 

Address  given  hy  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Mercier  on 
the  day  of  the  National  Fete,  July  2i,  igi6y  at 
Sainte  Gudule,  Brussels. 

"Jerusalem  was  made  an  habitation  of  strangers; 
her  festival  days  were  turned  into  mourning." 

/  Machabees,  i.  40,  41. 

Beloved  Brethren, 

WE    ought   to   have   met   together   here   to 
celebrate  the   eighty-fifth   anniversary  of 
our  national  independence. 

To-day,  in  fourteen  years'  time,  our  restored 
cathedrals  and  our  rebuilt  churches  will  be 
thrown  widely  open;  the  crowds  will  surge  in; 
our  King  Albert,  standing  on  this  throne,  will 
bow  his  unconquered  head  before  the  King  of 
Kings;  the  Queen  and  the  Royal  Princes  will 
surround  him;  we  shall  hear  again  the  joyous 
peals  of  our  bells,  and  throughout  the  whole 
country,  under  the  vaulted  arches  of  our  churches, 
Belgians,  hand  in  hand,  will  renew  their  vows 
to  their  God,  their  Sovereign,  and  their  Hberty, 
while  the  bishops  and  the  priests,  interpreters  of 
the  soul  of  the  nation,  will  intone  a  triumphant 

113 


114  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Te  Deum  in  a  common  transport  of  joyous  thanks- 
giving. 

To-day  the  hymn  of  joy  dies  on  our  lips. 

The  Jewish  people  in  captivity  at  Babylon, 
sitting  in  tears  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
watched  the  waters  of  the  river  flow  by.  Their 
dumb  harps  were  hung  on  the  willows  by  the 
bank.  Who  amongst  them  would  have  the 
courage  to  sing  the  song  of  Jehovah  in  a  strange 
land?  "O  Jerusalem,"  cried  the  Psalmist,  "if 
ever  I  forget  thee,  let  my  right  hand  wither,  let 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  if  I 
do  not  remember  thee;  if  thou  art  no  longer  the 
beginning  of  my  joys." 

The  Psalm  ends  in  imprecations,  but  we  do 
not  allow  ourselves  to  repeat  them;  we  are  not 
of  the  Old  Testament,  tolerating  the  laws  of 
retaliation:  "An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for 
a  tooth."  Our  lips,  purified  by  the  fire  of  Chris- 
tian charity,  utter  no  words  of  hate. 

To  hate  is  to  make  it  one's  object  to  do  harm 
to  others  and  to  delight  in  so  doing.  Whatever 
may  be  our  sufferings,  we  must  not  wish  to  show 
hatred  towards  those  who  have  inflicted  them. 
Our  national  unity  is  joined  with  a  feeling  of 
universal  brotherhood.  But  even  this  feeling  of 
universal  brotherhood  is  dominated  by  our  respect 
for  unconditional  justice,  without  which  no  rela- 
tionship is  possible,  either  between  individuals  or 
between  nations. 


FOR   OUR    SOLDIERS  115 

And  that  Is  why,  with  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
the  most  authoritative  teacher  of  Christian 
Theology,  we  proclaim  that  pubHc  retribution  is 
commendable. 

Crimes,  violation  of  justice,  outrage  on  the 
pubHc  peace,  whether  enacted  by  an  individual 
or  by  a  group,  must  be  repressed.  Men's  minds 
are  stirred  up,  tortured,  uneasy,  as  long  as  the 
guilty  one  is  not  put  back  in  his  place,  as  the 
strong,  healthy,  colloquial  expression  has  it.  To 
put  men  and  things  back  in  their  places  is  to  re- 
establish order,  readjust  the  balance,  and  restore 
peace  on  a  just  basis.  ^ 

Public  retribution  in  this  sense  may  distress 
the  affected  sentimentality  of  a  weak  nature; 
all  the  same,  it  is,  says  St.  Thomas,  the  expres- 
sion and  the  decree  of  the  highest,  the  purest 
form  of  charity,  and  of  the  zeal  which  is  its  flame. 
It  does  not  make  a  target  of  suffering,  but  a 
weapon  wherewith  to  avenge  outraged  justice. 

How  can  one  love  order  without  hating  dis- 
order; intelligently  wish  for  peace  without  ex- 
pelling that  which  is  destroying  it;  love  a  brother, 
that  is  to  say  wish  him  well,  without  desiring 
that  willingly,  or  by  force,  his  will  shall  bend  be- 
fore the  unalterable  edicts  of  justice  and  truth? 

It  is  from  these  heights  that  one  must  view  the 
war  in  order  to  understand  the  greatness  of  its 
extent. 

Once   more,    perhaps,   you   will    find   yourself 


Il6  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

face  to  face  with  effeminate  natures  for  whom 
the  war  means  nothing  beyond  explosions  of 
mines,  bursting  of  shells,  massacres  of  men, 
spilling  of  blood,  piling  up  of  corpses.  You  will 
meet  politicians  of  narrow  vision  who  see  no 
further  stake  in  a  battle  beyond  the  interest  of 
one  day,  the  taking  of  so  much  ground,  of  a 
stretch  of  country,  or  of  a  province. 

But  no.  If,  in  spite  of  its  horrors,  war,  I  mean 
a  just  war,  has  so  much  austere  beauty,  it  is 
because  war  brings  out  the  disinterested  enthu- 
siasm of  a  whole  people,  which  gives,  or  is  pre- 
pared to  give,  its  most  precious  possession,  even 
life  itself,  for  the  defense  and  the  vindication 
of  things  which  cannot  be  weighed,  which  cannot 
be  calculated,  but  which  can  never  be  swallowed 
up:   Justice,  Honor,  Peace,  Liberty! 

Do  you  not  feel  that,  in  these  two  years,  the 
war,  the  ardent  unflagging  interest  which  you 
give  to  it,  purifies  you,  separates  your  higher 
nature  from  the  dross,  draws  you  away  to  uplift 
you  towards  something  nobler  and  better  than 
yourselves  ? 

You  are  rising  towards  the  ideals  of  justice  and 
honor.    They  support  you  and  draw  you  upwards. 

And,  because  this  ideal,  if  it  is  not  a  vain  ab- 
straction, which  evaporates  like  the  phantasies 
of  a  dream,  must  have  its  foundation  in  a  living 
subject,  I  am  never  tired  of  maintaining  this 
truth,  which  holds  us  all  under  its  yoke.     God 


FOR   OUR   SOLDIERS  II7 

reveals  Himself  as  the  Master,  the  Director  of 
events,  and  of  our  wills,  the  holy  Master  of  the 
universal  conscience. 

Ah,  if  we  could  clasp  in  our  arms  our  heroes 
who  are  fighting  for  us  over  there,  or  are  await- 
ing anxiously  in  the  trenches  their  turn  to  go 
under  fire;  if  we  could  take  them  by  surprise, 
and  feel  the  beatings  of  their  hearts,  would  not 
each  one  of  them  say  to  us:  I  am  doing  my  duty, 
I  am  sacrificing  myself  on  the  altar  of  justice? 

And  you,  wives  and  mothers,  tell  us  in  your 
turn  of  the  beauty  of  these  tragic  years;  wives, 
whose  every  thought  goes,  sad,  but  resigned, 
towards  the  absent  one,  bringing  him  your  hopes, 
your  long  expectation,  your  prayers.  Mothers, 
whose  divided  existence  is  consumed  in  unceasing 
anguish,  you  have  given  your  sons,  and  you  will 
not  take  them  back;  we  stand  breathless  with 
unceasing  admiration  before  you. 

The  head  of  one  of  our  noblest  families  wrote 
to  me:  "Our  son  in  the  7th  Line  Regiment  has 
fallen;  my  wife  and  I  are  broken-hearted;  and 
yet,  if  it  had  to  be,  we  would  give  him  again." 

One  of  the  curates  of  the  capital  has  been  con- 
demned to  twelve  years'  penal  servitude.  I  was 
allowed  to  go  into  his  cell  to  embrace  and  to 
bless  him.  "I  have  three  brothers  at  the  front," 
he  said,  "and  I  think  I  am  here  chiefly  because 
I  helped  the  youngest — he  is  only  seventeen  —  to 
rejoin  the  elder  ones;    one  of  my  sisters  is  in  a 


Il8  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

neighboring  cell,  but,  thank  God,  my  mother  is 
not  left  alone;  indeed  she  has  sent  us  a  message 
to  say  so;   she  does  not  weep." 

Is  it  not  true  that  our  mothers  make  us  think 
of  the  mother  of  the  Machabees? 

What  lessons  of  moral  greatness  there  are  to 
be  learned  here  around  us,  and  in  exile  and  in  the 
prisons,  and  in  the  concentration  camps,  in  Hol- 
land and  in  Germany! 

Do  we  think  enough  of  what  those  brave  men 
must  be  suffering,  who  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  on  the  morrow  of  the  defense  of  Liege  and 
Namur,  and  the  retreat  from  Antwerp,  saw  their 
military  career  shattered,  and  chafe  and  fret, 
these  guardians  of  our  rights,  and  of  our  com- 
munal liberties,  whose  valor  has  reduced  them 
to  inaction? 

It  needs  courage  to  throw  one's  self  forward, 
but  it  needs  no  less  to  hold  one's  self  back. 
Sometimes  it  is  more  noble  to  suffer  in  silence 
than  to  act. 

And  what  of  these  two  years  of  calm  submis- 
sion by  the  Belgian  people  before  the  inevitable; 
this  unshakable  tenacity,  which  moved  a  hum- 
ble woman,  before  whom  the  possibihties  of 
an  approaching  conclusion  of  peace  were  being 
discussed,  to  say:  "Oh,  as  for  us,  we  must  not 
worry;  we  can  go  on  waiting."  How  beautiful 
is  all  this,  and  how  full  of  instruction  for  the 
generations  to  come! 


FOR   OUR    SOLDIERS  II9 

This  is  what  you  must  look  at,  my  brothers, 
the  greatness  of  the  nation  in  her  sacrifice;  our 
universal  and  enduring  brotherhood  in  anguish 
and  in  mourning,  and  in  the  same  unconquerable 
hope;  this  is  what  you  must  look  at  to  appraise 
your  Belgian  fatherland  at  its  true  value. 

Now  the  first  exponents  of  this  moral  greatness 
are  our  soldiers. 

Until  that  day  when  they  return  to  us,  and 
when  grateful  Belgium  acclaims  the  living,  and 
places  a  halo  of  glory  about  the  memory  of  her 
dead,  let  us  build  up  for  them  in  our  hearts  a 
permanent  monument  of  sacred  gratitude. 

Let  us  pray  for  those  who  are  no  more.  Let 
us  exclude  no  one  from  our  commiseration;  the 
blood  of  Christ  was  shed  for  all.  Some  of  them 
are  atoning  in  Purgatory  for  the  last  remnants 
of  their  human  weakness.  It  is  for  you  to  hasten 
their  entry  into  Paradise.  Succor  the  poor  in 
distress,  both  the  poor  who  are  known  to  you 
and  those  who  are  ashamed  to  beg.  Give  of 
your  abundance  to  those  who  are  in  need  of  the 
necessities  of  hfe.  Be  present  at  the  Mass,  which 
is  celebrated  every  week  in  your  parish  churches 
for  our  dead  soldiers;  take  your  children  with 
you,  encourage  them  to  communicate,  and  com- 
municate with  them. 

Let  us  also  pray  for  those  who  are  still  holding 
the  firing  line  on  the  field  of  battle.  Remember 
that,  even  at  this  moment,  while  I  am  speaking 


120  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

to  you,  some  of  them  are  in  the  agony  of  death. 
The  prospect  of  eternity  stretches  out  before 
them.  Let  us  think  of  them,  let  us  mortify  our- 
selves for  them,  resign  ourselves  to  God  for  them, 
and  obtain  for  them  a  holy  death. 

"Our  soldiers  are  our  masters,"  wrote  a  French 
Academician  yesterday;  "they  are  our  leaders, 
our  teachers,  our  judges,  our  supporters,  our 
true  friends;  let  us  be  worthy  of  them,  let  us 
imitate  them,  so  that  we  may  not  do  less  than 
our  duty;  they  are  always  ready  to  do  more  than 
their  own." 

The  hour  of  deliverance  approaches,  but  it  has 
not  yet  struck.  Let  us  be  patient.  Let  us  not 
suffer  our  courage  to  waver.  Let  us  surrender  to 
Divine  Providence  the  work  of  making  perfect 
our  national  probation. 

Young  women,  young  girls,  let  me  ask  if  you 
are  thinking  seriously  enough  about  the  gravity 
of  this  present  time.?  I  entreat  you  not  to  turn 
aside  from  the  mourning  of  your  country.  There 
are  attitudes,  there  are  ways  of  behaving  which 
are  an  insult  to  grief. 

For  you  modesty  is  at  all  times  a  virtue  and 
a  halo  of  glory;  but  to-day  it  is  in  addition  a 
patriotic  duty. 

You,  also,  must  think  of  the  privations  and  of 
the  endurance  of  our  soldiers. 

Let  us  all  try  to  adopt  the  great  principle  of 
austerity  in  our  lives. 


FOR   OUR    SOLDIERS  121 

"How  much,"  continues  the  patriot  whom  I 
have  just  quoted,  "how  much  ought  we,  in  the 
relatively  easy  conditions  and  the  less  exposed 
districts,  which  are  ours,  and  which  do  not  deserve 
the  name  of  fire  zones,  to  endeavor  to  reduce  and 
simplify  our  needs,  and  like  the  soldiers,  though 
in  our  own  sphere,  to  show  more  concentrated 
energy.  Let  us  not  allow  ourselves  a  moment's 
distraction  or  relaxation.  Let  us  devote  every 
minute  in  our  lives  to  the  magnificent  cause  for 
which  our  brothers  are  so  devotedly  sacrificing 
theirs. 

"And,  just  as  our  heroes  at  the  front  show  us 
a  wonderful  and  consoling  spectacle  of  indis- 
soluble unity,  of  a  brotherhood  in  arms  which 
nothing  can  destroy,  even  so,  in  our  ranks,  less 
compact  and  well  disciphned  though  they  may 
be,  we  shall  earnestly  strive  to  maintain  the 
same  patriotic  sense  of  union.  We  will  respect 
the  truce  imposed  on  our  quarrels  by  the  one 
great  Cause  which  alone  ought  to  use  and  absorb 
all  our  powers  of  attack  and  combat;  and  if 
there  are  any  godless  or  unfortunate  people,  who 
fail  to  understand  the  urgency  and  the  beauty  of 
this  national  precept,  and  insist,  in  spite  of  all, 
on  keeping  alive  and  fomenting  the  passions  v/hich 
divide  us  when  other  matters  are  concerned,  we 
will  turn  aside  our  heads,  and  continue,  without 
answering  them,  to  remain  faithful  to  the  pact  of 
fellowship,  of  friendship,  of  loyal  and  true  con- 


122  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

fidence  which  we  have  concluded  with  them,  even 
in  spite  of  themselves,  under  the  great  inspiration 
of  the  war." 

The  approaching  date  of  the  first  centenary  of 
our  independence  ought  to  find  us  stronger,  more 
intrepid,  more  united  than  ever.  Let  us  prepare 
ourselves  for  it  with  work,  with  patience  and  in 
true  brotherhood. 

When,  in  1930,  we  recall  the  dark  years  of 
1915-1916,  they  will  appear  to  us  as  the  bright- 
est, the  most  majestic  and,  if,  from  to-day,  we 
resolve  that  they  shall  be  so,  the  happiest  and  the 
most  fruitful  in  our  national  history.  Per  crucem 
ad  lucem  —  from  the  sacrifice  flashes  forth  the 
light! 


V 

THE    VOICE  OF  GOD 


V 

THE   VOICE  OF  GOD 

first  sunday  of  the  month  of  the 
holy  rosary,  i916 

Introduction 

The  Trial  is  long 

YES,  the  trial  is  long.  (I  hear  you  repeat 
this  from  day  to  day,  and  I  think  there 
can  be  none  who  do  not  share  your  feeling.) 

And  when  will  it  end.? 

One  day  when  our  divine  Saviour  had  been 
speaking  to  His  Apostles  of  the  calamities  which 
will  herald  the  approaching  end  of  the  world  — 
wars,  pestilence,  famine,  earthquakes,  atmos- 
pheric disturbances  —  His  hearers  asked  Him: 
"When  shall  these  things  be?" 

And  our  divine  Redeemer  answered:  "Of  that 
day  and  that  hour  knoweth  no  man  .  .  .  not 
even  the  Son  of  Man";^  in  other  words,  it  did 
not  enter  into  the  earthly  mission  of  the  Son  of 
God  to  reveal  it  to  humanity.  The  great  thing 
for  you  is,  indeed,  not  to  know  whether  the  world 

^  Matthew  xxiv.  3;  Mark  xiii.  32. 
I2S 


126  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

will  last  a  thousand  years,  ten  thousand  years, 
or  ten  million  years  longer;  it  signifies  not  whether 
you  die  in  youth,  in  maturity,  or  in  extreme  old 
age;  one  thing  alone  is  of  consequence,  that  you 
save  your  souls,  and  that  you  be  docile  instru- 
ments in  the  almighty  hands  of  the  Master  of 
events,  for  the  sanctification  of  His  Holy  Name, 
the  establishment  of  His  Kingdom,  and  the  ful- 
fillment of  His  Will. 

Part  I 

The  soul  must  contemplate  Eternity  in  silence,  if 
it  would  grasp  the  deep  significance  of  events. 

God  speaks  to  us  from  without  and  from 
within. 

He  speaks  to  us  from  without  by  the  marvels 
of  Nature  and  the  lessons  of  events. 

He  speaks  to  us  from  within  by  the  gentle 
breath  of  the  graces  of  His  Holy  Spirit. 

The  voice  of  Nature  is  generally  harmonious 
and  peaceful,  as  in  the  solemn  progress  of  the 
sun  through  space,  the  murmur  of  the  waters, 
the  growth  of  corn,  the  slow  evolution  of  the 
seasons.  But  at  times  it  is  violent  and  terrible, 
as  in  thunder  and  the  thunderbolt,  the  fury  of 
the  tempest,  the  shocks  that  make  the  earth 
tremble,  and  cast  out  the  lava  of  volcanoes 
upon  it. 

The  world  of  history  has  also  its  peaceful  ex- 


THE    VOICE    OF   GOD  1 27 

pansions,  its  periods  of  concentrated  labor,  of 
economic,  intellectual,  artistic,  and  civilizing  suc- 
cess; but  at  times,  passions  run  riot,  hate  stifles 
the  voice  of  love,  death  seems  to  triumph  over 
life. 

Nevertheless,  the  God  of  grace  is  still  speaking 
to  us. 

Each  historic  period  is  a  page  in  the  divine 
book  of  Providence. 

We  write  it,  but  the  Will  of  the  Almighty, 
strong  yet  gentle,  holds  the  pen. 

It  depends  upon  us  whether  we  write  in  char- 
acters of  gold  or  letters  of  blood,  but  the  book 
must  be  written.  We  shall  find  this  book  again 
in  eternity,  and  it  will  then  be  manifest  to  all  to 
what  extent,  and  how,  each  one  of  us  has  col- 
laborated in  it. 

As  long  as  history  lasts,  the  book  remains 
closed  and  sealed;  the  divine  Lamb,  who  shed 
His  blood  for  our  redemption,  alone  has  power 
to  break  the  seven  seals  which  guard  its  secrets. 
The  Elders  of  the  Apocalypse,  prostrate  before 
the  Lamb,  oflPer  Him  the  prayers  of  the  Saints, 
and  sing:  "Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book, 
and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  because  Thou  wast 
slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  in  Thy  blood 
out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people, 
and  nation;  and  hast  made  us  to  our  God  kings 
and  priests;  and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth. 
Dignus  eSy    DominCy    accipere   librum,    et   aperire 


128  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

signacula  ejus;  quoniam  occisus  es,  et  redemisti 
nos  Deo  in  sanguine  tuo  ex  omni  trihu,  et  lingua^  et 
populo,  et  natione;  et  fecisti  nos  Deo  nostro  regnu7n, 
et  sacerdotes."  ^ 

The  last  seal  will  be  broken  when  the  divine 
Jesus  who  has  deigned  to  abase  Himself  to  us, 
and  to  take  on  our  frail  humanity,  that  He  might 
sacrifice  it  for  us,  shall  come  back  to  us  in  the 
majesty  of  His  glory,  seated  on  the  clouds,  the 
cross  of  the  Last  Judgment  in  His  hand,  and  shall 
say  in  a  voice  infinitely  more  mighty  than  the 
thunder  to  each  of  His  creatures  one  or  the  other 
of  these  two  things:  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  My 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you," 
or:  "Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 

These  will  be  the  last  resounding  words  that 
will  fall  from  the  lips  of  the  Man-God;  decisive, 
irrevocable  words,  which  will  range  us  for  all 
eternity  on  the  right  or  on  the  left,  among  the 
elect  in  glory,  or  among  the  reprobate  in  hell. 

My  beloved  Brethren,  do  you  think  of  this? 
Do  you  think  of  it  enough? 

In  the  presence  of  this  supreme  alternative, 
what  does  all  the  rest  matter? 

What  does  it  matter  whether  you  die  young  or 
old,  in  bed  or  on  the  battle-field,  far  from  those 
belonging  to  you,  or  near  to  them? 

What  in  the  last  resort  will  it  matter  to  you 

^  Apocalypse  v.  9,  10. 


THE    VOICE    OF    GOD  1 29 

whether  your  days  have  been  passed  happily,  in 
a  much  loved  home,  in  comfort  and  abundance, 
surrounded  by  affection  and  esteem,  or  whether 
you  have  lived  in  affliction,  in  soHtude,  perhaps 
in  poverty,  bowed  down  by  suspicion,  humilia- 
tion, and  oppression?  How  will  you  look  upon 
and  judge  these  trifles,  when  you  contemplate 
them  from  eternity? 

Whatever  may  betide  you,  there  is  something 
in  you  which  no  person  and  no  event  can  touch; 
this  is  your  soul.  And  this  soul,  which  belongs  to 
you,  and  is  yours,  of  which  you  are  the  master, 
was  made  to  enjoy  God,  and  will  enjoy  God,  if 
that  is  your  desire;  it  will  embrace  Him  and  be 
embraced  by  Him,  not  for  the  brief  space  of  a 
man's  life,  or  of  an  historic  period,  but  eternally, 
for  ever  and  ever. 

So,  Brethren,  lift  up  your  eyes,  I  beseech  you, 
and  keep  them  fixed  upon  this  polar  star  of  your 
eternity. 

Then  you  will  see  created  events  fading  into 
the  penumbra  of  nullity  which  the  Scriptures, 
that  other  direct  and  personal  voice  of  God,  call 
alternately  a  vapor  which  steals  away  and  dis- 
appears, a  cloud  which  dissolves,  a  shadow  which 
flees,  a  flower  which  withers,  a  wave  which  melts 
again  into  the  ocean. 

Eternity!  My  Brethren,  we  all  lack  courage 
to  look  at  it  steadil}^,  were  it  but  for  once.  Lay 
hold  of  it  as  closely  as  you  can;    keep  it  fixed  in 


130  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

your  imagination  for  an  hour,  a  half  hour,  a 
quarter  of  an  hour;  concentrate  your  thoughts 
on  it;  during  this  quarter  of  an  hour  see  only 
this,  and  in  it  God,  the  God  that  was  made  Man, 
your  Creator,  your  Savior  and  your  Judge; 
you,  confronting  it,  made  for  it,  determine  to 
forget  all  else,  for  this  short  space  of  time;  and 
you  will  rise  enlightened,  tempered,  fortified. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  address,  my  Brethren, 
I  told  you  that  God  speaks  to  us  from  within  and 
from  without  by  the  voice  of  Nature  or  of  history; 
from  within  by  the  gentle  breath  of  the  graces  of 
His  Holy  Spirit. 

Would  you  know  why  it  is  that  Eternity,  which 
is  of  such  vast  importance,  touches  you  so  little, 
whereas  events  which  Time  carries  away  absorb 
you  so  deeply? 

It  is  because  you  find  time  for  everything,  but 
that  you  will  not  spare  any  for  the  one  thing 
which  is  worth  while.  You  are  not  able  to  collect 
your  thoughts  and  listen.  Your  soul  has  been 
made  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  baptism 
and  confirmation;  let  it,  as  St.  John  says,  receive 
the  anointing  of  grace,  and  it  will  learn  to  dis- 
tinguish truth  from  falsehood.^  But,  observes 
St.  Gregory  the  Pope,  Grace  is  like  the  breeze 
of  dawn;  it  caresses,  and  is  gone;  unquiet  spirits 
cannot  hold  it.^ 

^    I  John  ii.  27. 

2  "  Moral."     Lib.  v.  cap.  26. 


THE    VOICE    OF   GOD  13I 

You  are  at  the  mercy  of  events,  whereas  you 
ought  to  dominate  them.  You  obey  your  emo- 
tions, whereas  it  is  your  duty,  and  within  your 
power,  to  control  them.  Reduce  them  to  silence, 
kneel  down  in  your  room  with  closed  doors, 
clauso  ostio,^  or  in  the  sanctuary  where  our  divine 
Savior  dwells  for  us,  in  front  of  the  altar  of  the 
Holy  Sacrifice,  in  front  of  the  tabernacle,  in  front 
of  the  crucifix,  and  there  in  silence,  withdrawing 
from  all  that  is  happening  without  and  all  that 
is  stirring  within,  ask  our  Lord  to  send  you  His 
Holy  Spirit;  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  forefinger  of 
the  Father's  right  hand,  digitus  Paternae  dexterae; 
He  will  point  out  the  way  in  which  your  conscience 
shall  find  truth,  light,  and  peace,  in  all  your  hours 
of  grief  and  anguish. 

Part  H 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gives  us  the  key  to  events  in 
the  mystery  of  His  Death  and  Resurrection,  per- 
petuated in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  Life 
springs  from  death. 

The  peace  of  humanity  ought  not  to  be  broken 
by  wars.  In  the  original  scheme  of  Providence 
the  passions  were  in  subjection  to  reason,  and 
ought  never  to  have  interfered  with  the  concord 
either  of  families  or  of  nations.    But  sin  overthrew 

^  Matthew  vi.  6. 


132  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

this  generous  plan,  and  after  sin,  disorder  made 
its  appearance  in  history.  Henceforth  revolt 
became  an  element  in  events.  Pride  and  greed 
broke  down  equihbrium;  repression,  defense  by 
force  of  arms,  are  necessary  for  its  reestabhsh- 
ment.  Wars  have  become  inevitable,  and  as 
long  as  there  are  upon  the  earth  men  guilty  of 
allowing  their  passions  to  dominate  their  reason, 
and  their  reason  to  set  itself  above  the  divine  will, 
universal  pacifism  will  be  a  dream.  Nay,  more 
than  this:  to  desire  peace  for  its  own  sake,  peace 
at  any  price,  would  be  to  accept  with  equal  indif- 
ference justice  and  injustice,  truth  and  false- 
hood; it  would  be  an  act  of  cowardice,  an  impiety. 

Nevertheless,  a  great  artist  is  able  to  resolve 
discords  into  harmonies.  Under  the  brush  of  a 
master  of  genius,  the  ugly,  by  force  of  contrast, 
becomes  surpassing  beauty. 

Thus  divine  Providence,  which  designed  naught 
but  good,  found  means,  in  the  secrets  of  its  in- 
finite wisdom,  to  transform  this  world  of  ours, 
disturbed  and  disfigured  by  the  sin  of  our  first 
parents  and  our  individual  crimes,  into  a  work  of 
redemption,  surpassing  the  sketch  of  its  primi- 
tive design  in  grandeur  and  moral  perfection. 
"God,  Who  is  almighty  and  supremely  good," 
says  St.  Augustine,  "would  not  have  allowed  the 
smallest  taint  of  evil  to  have  crept  into  His  work, 
had  He  not  been  at  once  good  enough  and  power- 
ful   enough    to    evolve   good    even     from     evil. 


THE    VOICE    OF    GOD  I33 

Neque  Deus  omnipotens,  rerum  cui  summa  po- 
testaSy  cum  summe  bonus  sit,  ullo  modo  sineret 
mail  aliquid  esse  in  operibus  suis,  nisi  usque  adeo 
esset  omnipotens  et  bonus,  ut  bene  faceret  et  de 
malo."  ^  And  you  remember,  my  Brethren,  that 
every  year  on  Easter  Eve  when  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  is  proclaimed,  the  Church  makes 
bold  to  sing:  "O  yes,  Adam's  sin,  which  Christ 
has  taken  away,  was  indeed  necessary!  O  happy 
fault,  which  procured  us  such  a  mighty  Re- 
deemer! 0  certe  necessarium  Adae  peccatum, 
quod  Christi  morte  deletum  est!  0  felix  culpa,  quae 
talem  ac  tantum  meruit  habere  Redemptorem! " 

The  terrible  events  we  have  been  witnessing  for 
the  last  two  years  are  the  result  of  human  passions 
we  must  deplore  and  execrate;  but  it  is  for  us  to 
raise  ourselves,  by  reflection  and  faith,  to  a  higher 
and  serener  conception  of  the  general  plan  of 
Providence,  and  to  apply  to  our  affliction  and  the 
crimes  which  occasioned  it  what  our  liturgy  says 
of  the  drama  which  was  at  once  the  darkest  of 
crimes  and  the  cruellest  of  agonies:  "Lord  God," 
it  says  in  the  canon  of  the  Mass,  "in  memory  of 
the  blessed  Passion  of  Christ  Thy  Son,  our  Lord, 
and  of  His  glorious  Resurrection  and  Ascension, 
we  offer  to  Thy  Sovereign  Majesty  this  Holy 
Victim,  this  bread  of  Ufe  and  this  cup  of 
immortaHty." 

Yes,   in   spite  of  its   horrors,   blessed  was  the 

^  "S.  Aug.  Enchiridion,"  Cap.  xi. 


134  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Passion  of  our  divine  Saviour.  Blessed  for  Him, 
for  it  earned  Him  His  glorious  Resurrection  and 
Ascension,  and  His  sovereignty  of  the  world. 
Blessed  for  us,  for  henceforth,  if  we  are  willing 
to  suffer  with  Him,  we  shall  also  be  glorified  with 
Him :  "  Si  tamen  compatimur,  utetconglorificemur."^ 
A  moment  of  affliction  now,  as  St.  Paul  says  to 
the  Corinthians,  and  above,  for  our  reward,  an 
"eternal  and  exceeding  weight  of  glory,"  pro- 
vided that  "we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are 
seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen;  for 
the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal;  but 
the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.  Id 
enim,  quod  in  praesenti  est  momentaneum  et  leve 
tribulationis  nostrae,  supra  modum  in  sublimitate 
aeternum  gloriae  pondus  operatur  in  nobisy  non 
contemplantibus  nobis  quae  videntur,  sed  quae  non 
videntur.  ^uae  enim  videntur  temporalia  sunt, 
quae  autem  non  videntur^  aeterna  sunt."^ 

Such,  my  Brethren,  in  brief,  is  the  funda- 
mental solution  of  the  essential  problems  of  life 
for  individuals  and  for  nations:  the  Passion  be- 
fore the  Resurrection,  death  to  attain  life,  the 
Cross  to  enter  into  glory. 

Under  the  ancient  covenant,  God  spoke  to 
His  chosen  people  by  the  medium  of  the  Prophets. 
Under  the  new  covenant,  says  St.  Paul,  He  speaks 
to  us  directly   by   His  Son,  who,  when   He  had 

^  Romans  viii.  17. 

^  //  Corinthians  iv.  17,  18. 


THE    VOICE    OF    GOD  I35 

purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  Majesty  on  high,^ 

The  prophets,  Isaias,  Jeremias,  Ezechiel,  Daniel, 
Nahum,  Habacuc,  and  the  rest,  were  commis- 
sioned to  recall  the  chosen  people  and  their 
oppressors,  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Chaldaeans 
and  Babylonians,  to  the  law  of  duty;  they  pro- 
claimed to  them  invariably  that  in  blood  and 
ruins  they  would  find  at  once  their  chastisement 
and  the  principle  of  their  regeneration.  God 
chastens  us  only  to  heal  and  save  us.  Guilty 
humanity  must  die  to  live  again.  Until  the  grain 
of  wheat  dies  in  the  earth,  there  is  no  hope  of 
Hfe  and  fruitfulness.  "Follow  this  rule,"  says 
St.  Paul  again;  "look  only  to  the  Cross  for  your 
regeneration  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  you  shall  find 
pardon  and  peace,  you  and  all  the  true  sons  of 
Israel.  Mihi  autem  ahsit  gloriari,  nisi  in  cruce 
Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi.  .  .  .  In  Christo  enim 
Jesu^  nihil  valet  {nisi)  nova  creatura.  Et  quicum- 
que  banc  regulam  secuti  fuerint,  pax  super  illos,  et 
misericordia,  et  super  Israel  Dei."^ 

In  so  far  as  the  Belgian  people  can  accept  these 
austere  principles,  in  so  far  will  it  be  able  to  take 
the  two  tragic  years  it  has  passed  through  as  an 
incentive  to  a  more  vigorous  future,  a  renewal  of 
energy,  a  more  ardent  confidence  in  the  illimitable 
resources  of  a  Christian  nation. 

^  Hebrews  i.  2,  3. 

*  Galatians  vi,  14-16. 


136  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

At  this  most  intimate  moment  of  the  Mass, 
when  the  priest  and  the  faithful  are  about  to  feed 
upon  Christ,  what  is  the  prayer  the  Church  puts 
upon  our  hps?  Once  again  she  reminds  us  of  the 
starting  point  and  the  term  of  hfe.  Here,  she 
says,  the  Eternal  Father,  with  the  cooperation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  realizes  His  design  of  making 
the  life-spring  that  is  to  nourish  the  world  come 
forth  from  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God.  '' Domine  Jesu  Christe, 
Fill  Dei  vivi,  qui  ex  voluntate  Patris,  co-operante 
Spiritu  Sancto,  per  mortem  tuam,  mundum 
vivificasti.  ..." 

And  have  not  the  Holy  Fathers,  Popes  Pius  IX 
and  Pius  X,  asked  us  to  repeat  each  day  after 
Mass  this  touching  prayer:  "I  intreat  Thee,  O 
sweet  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  that  Thy  death  may 
be  to  me  a  source  of  unfailing  life,  and  that  Thy 
Cross  may  be  my  glory  forever.  Mors  tua  sit 
mihi  vita  i7ideficienSy  crux  tua  sit  mihi  gloria 
sempiterjia."  ^ 

Part  HI 

Take  an  active  part  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the 
Alass;  worship  the  purposes  of  God  therein;  and 
further,  expiate,  give  thanks,  and  pray. 

Come  to  Mass,  my  Brethren,  to  revive  your 
rehgious  hfe.    Come  every  day,  if  you   can,  but 
at  least  never  miss  the  obligatory  Sunday  Mass. 
1  Pius,  P.P.  X,  Aug.  29,  1912. 


THE    VOICE    OF    GOD  I37 

I  have  of  late  encountered  youths  and  maidens 
of  the  people,  who  would  no  longer  venture  to 
show  themselves  in  church,  because  they  have 
nothing  but  sabots  to  put  on  their  feet.  My 
children,  I  understand  and  sympathize  with  your 
humiliation.  But  believe  that  our  divine  Re- 
deemer is  not  like  the  parvenus  whose  glances 
you  dread.  He  became  poor  of  His  own  free  will, 
to  draw  you  to  Him  more  closely;  the  nearer 
you  are  to  destitution,  the  more  you  resemble 
Him,  and  the  more  He  loves  you. 

Oh!  my  Brethren,  honor  the  poor.  And  you, 
my  dear  colleagues  of  the  priesthood,  give  them 
the  first  place  in  your  esteem  and  solicitude.  I 
should  wish  to  see  them  in  the  front  rank  in  the 
temple  of  Jesus  of  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth. 
Before  God  and  before  His  Church,  they  are 
greater  and  worthier  than  you  and  I.  If  they 
accept  their  condition  cheerfully  and  with  faith, 
they  do  more  for  the  salvation  of  humanity  than 
those  whose  wealth  and  success  sometimes  dazzle 
you. 

As  to  you.  Ladies,  if  you  flaunt  your  abundance 
when  your  sisters  have  only  wooden  shoes  and 
shabby  garments,  know  that  you  will  be  offend- 
ing against  God,  your  country,  and  the  dignity 
of  the  poor. 

Come  then,  one  and  all,  to  Mass,  Come 
modestly  attired.  You  need  not  blush  to  come, 
however  poor  your  garments,  if  they  are  clean. 


138  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Come  mainly  for  the  primary  intention  of  the 
sacrifice,  that  of  worshipping  God.  To  worship 
God  is  to  proclaim  that  God  is  God,  that  He  is 
the  Master  to  whom  you  owe  obedience,  that  all 
He  does  is  well  done.  Unite  with  the  priest 
at  the  altar,  not  only  in  repeating  prayers  more 
or  less  similar  to  his;  but  also  in  the  sacerdotal 
act.  For  you  too  are  priests.  You  have  heard 
how  the  Apostle  St.  John  tells  you  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse that  the  blood  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
has  made  you  all  kings  and  priests;  priests  of 
God  and  of  Christ,  he  says  elsewhere.^  St.  Peter 
expresses  the  same  thought:  Christ  is  the  living 
stone  upon  which  the  whole  Church  is  built,  he 
says:  "Ye  also,  as  living  stones  are  built  up  a 
spiritual  house,  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ.  Et  ipsi  tamquam  lapides  vivi  super-aedi- 
ficamini,  domus  spiritualis,  sacerdotium  sanctum^ 
offerre  spirituales  hostias,  acceptahiles  Deo  per  Jesum 
Christum  J'  ^ 

To  the  priest  officially  intrusted  with  pubHc 
ministry  in  the  Church,  the  bishop  gives  the 
following  admonition:  "Understand  what  you 
are  doing;  seek  inspiration  in  your  acts,  from  the 
mystery  you  touch  with  your  hands;  and  since 
at  the  altar  you  renew  the  mystery  of  the  Death 
of  our  Lord,  mortify  also  in  your  members  your 

^  Apocalypse  xx.  6. 
2  /  Peter  ii.  5. 


THE    VOICE    OF    GOD  1 39 

vicious  instincts  and  evil  desires.  Agnoscite 
quod  agitis;  imitamini  quod  tractatis;  quatenus 
mortis  Dominicae  mysterium  celehrantes,  mortifi- 
care  membra  vestra  a  viiiis  et  concupiscentiis 
omnibus  procuretis."  ^ 

And  since  you  are  priests,  that  is  to  say,  sacri- 
ficers,  be,  moreover,  yourselves  the  victims. 
"I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God," 
writes  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans,  "present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto 
God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service.  Obsecro 
itaque  vos  fratres,  per  misericordiam  Dei,  ut  exhi- 
beatis  corpora  vestra  hostiam  viventem,  sanctam,  Deo 
placentem,  rationabile  obsequium  vestrum."  ^ 

Make  your  individual  sufferings  and  your 
national  suflPerings,  as  well  as  every  act  of  your 
Hfe,  the  material  of  your  sacrifice. 

And  this  is  not  enough.  Sacrifice  your  life 
itself  in  anticipation  as  a  free-will  offering  to  the 
glory  of  God.  Death  is  but  a  violent  rupture 
which  we  must  inevitably  undergo;  it  is  an  act 
with  which  the  Christian  soul  should  associate 
itself  actively,  the  restitution  to  the  sovereign 
Master  of  a  possession  He  has  confided  to  us  for 
His  glory;  this  restitution  is  a  sacerdotal  act 
which  the  Christian  accomplishes  in  union  with 
the  supreme  dissolution  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  when  all  of  us,  familiarizing  ourselves  with 

^  Pont.  Rom.  de  Ord.  Presbyter!. 
^  Romans  xii.  i. 


140  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

this  Christian  and  ennobling  conception  of  death, 
shall,  in  concert  with  our  sons  and  brothers  who 
fall  on  the  field  of  honor,  offer  this  spiritual  sacri- 
fice of  our  earthly  lives,  a  magnificent  homage  will 
rise  from  the  soil  of  our  Belgian  fatherland  to  the 
throne  of  divine  Majesty,  and  will  come  down  to 
us  again  in  blessings.  Our  sacrifice  will  be  an 
act  of  worship  and  of  expiation.  During  these 
two  months,  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  and  of  the  Dead, 
in  union  with  the  sorrowful  and  immaculate 
heart  of  Mary,  kneel  diligently  in  prayer  at  the 
Calvary,  be  assiduous  in  your  attendance  at  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  asking  pardon  for 
the  living,  and  mercy  for  the  souls  of  our  beloved 
dead. 

Also,  show  gratitude  to  God.  Bless  Him  for 
having  preserved  to  our  affection  our  King,  the 
pride  of  the  Belgian  nation;  our  strong  and  gentle 
Queen,  and  the  royal  children;  thank  Him  for 
having  given  us  patience  to  endure,  without 
flinching  or  murmuring,  our  long,  hard  ordeal; 
for  having  granted  us  the  first  benediction  of  our 
Holy  Father  Pope  Benedict  XV,  and  for  having 
inspired  him  to  say  that  his  warmest  paternal 
feeling  is  for  Belgium,  for  having  filled  the  hearts 
of  foreign  nations  with  respect  for  our  mis- 
fortunes. After  the  war  we  ought  to  raise  a 
monument  of  gratitude  to  them;  let  us  even  now 
give  them  a  place  of  honor  in  our  grateful  piety. 

Finally,  until  we  have  reached  the  end  of  our 


THE    VOICE    OF   GOD  I4I 

Calvary,  let  our  participation  in  the  Mass  be  a 
constant  prayer  for  our  beloved  country,  for 
those  present  and  those  absent,  our  brave  prisoners 
and  interned  compatriots,  our  dear  refugees. 

The  longer  the  war  lasts,  the  more  ardent  does 
my  pity  become  for  all  those  energetic  men  who 
were  eager  to  spend  themselves  on  our  behalf, 
and  who  are  now  tortured  by  their  inaction. 

Our  refugees!  England,  France,  Holland,  and 
Switzerland  leave  nothing  undone  to  alleviate 
their  lot,  but  exile  is  exile,  none  the  less.  We 
sometimes  hear  bitter  things  said  of  them.  I  do 
not  deny  that  there  may  have  been  among  them 
certain  weaknesses,  perhaps  remembered  with 
sorrow  now  by  those  who  yielded  to  them;  but 
how  many  among  those  you  judge  hastily,  re- 
luctantly obey  some  delicate  sentiment  of  defer- 
ence, of  filial  or  paternal  affection,  of  devotion 
to  a  sick  person,  of  solicitude  for  a  son  at  the 
front,  of  material  necessity.  According  to  those 
who  are  in  close  contact  with  them,  our  absent 
ones  rival  their  compatriots  in  occupied  Belgium 
in  patience,  self-denial,  and  apostolic  spirit.  We 
shall  receive  them  with  open  arms  when  they 
return  to  us,  and  they  must  not  doubt  that  they 
will  find  here  friends  and  brothers  who  will  have 
invariably  remained  faithful  to  them. 

We  cannot  exclude  any  from  our  prayers,  even 
our  enemies;  but  Christian  theology  teaches  us  to 
graduate  our   affections.     Give  your  best   affec- 


142  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

tion,  says  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  to  your  relatives, 
your  compatriots,   those  who    do  good  to  you=^ 

Pray  then  above  all  for  our  dear  soldiers,  who 
are  so  close  to  our  hearts  by  the  ties  of  blood, 
perhaps,  by  patriotism,  by  their  devotion  to  us. 
Associate  with  them  their  wives  and  mothers, 
those  silent  heroines  of  the  great  European  drama. 
Pray  for  our  armies  which,  in  the  west,  the  east, 
and  the  south,  are  fighting  with  so  much  valor 
and  tenacity  for  our  common  cause.  May  their 
guardian  angels  be  with  them  in  action,  and 
keep  them  chaste  and  devout  in  their  hours  of 
rest.  Let  me  also  specially  commend  to  you  our 
priests,  military  chaplains  or  stretcher-bearers; 
may  their  ministry  be  fruitful;  may  they  pass 
through  dangers  unspotted,  and  come  back  to  us 
strong  and  pious. 

Suffering  has  made  us  more  compassionate.  In 
days  gone  by  we  heard  without  much  emotion 
of  the  massacres  of  the  poor  Armenians.  Mussul- 
man fanaticism  has  caused  the  death  of  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  these  unhappy  people  in  the 
course  of  the  present  war,  and  has  carried  off  their 
women  and  their  young  girls  into  slavery.  Have 
pity  on  them;   pray  for  them. 

Poland,  noble  Poland,  always  faithful  to  her 
creed  and  her  vows,  who  has  never  embarked  on 
any  war  of  conquest,  but  has  always  fought  for 
the  hberty  of  nations  and  for  European  civiliza- 

^  "Summa  Theol,"  2,  2  q.  26,  a.  7. 


THE    VOICE    OF   GOD  I43 

tion,  has  suffered  more  than  we  have  done;  her 
sons  are  scattered  in  Russian,  Austrian  and  Ger- 
man battaHons;  her  soil  has  been  torn  and  rav- 
aged by  the  ebb  and  flood  of  armies;  America 
cannot  feed  her;  pray  for  her,  my  Brethren,  and 
ask  God  to  grant  that  at  least  one  of  the  happy 
results  of  this  horrible  war  may  be  the  definitive 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  Poland. 

Finally,  here  also,  in  occupied  Belgium,  let  us 
pray  one  for  another,  and  love  one  another. 
May  our  affection  be  sincere  and  active.  The 
history  of  Belgian  charity  during  the  war  will 
furnish  pages  worthy  to  figure  beside  those  in 
which  the  heroism  of  our  soldiers  will  be  recorded. 
Let  there  be  no  stain  on  our  national  record !  Let 
us  all  collaborate  to  the  utmost  in  our  union  and 
our  mutual  help.  Let  those  who  are  wealthy  give 
liberally  to  those  who  are  in  want,  to  the  infirm 
and  the  weak.  Refrain  from  enriching  your- 
selves —  this  would  be  hateful  indeed  —  at  the 
expense  of  the  suffering  of  others. 

And  let  us  all  remain  patient  and  enduring 
to  the  end.  Lift  up  your  hearts!  Let  us  redouble 
our  confidence.  Let  us  cry  to  God,  in  the  words 
of  the  holy  Liturgy:  "O  God,  come  to  my  aid! 
O  Lord,  make  haste  to  help  me!  Deus,  in 
adjutorium  meum  intende.  Domine,  ad  adju- 
vandum  me  festina!"  Meanwhile,  be  calm  and 
courageous;  murmur  not.  Let  us  apply  to  our 
patriotic    endurance    what    our    blessed    Saviour 


144  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

says  of  the  work  of  our  eternal  salvation:  "He 
that  endureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved,  ^uiautem 
perseveraverit  usque  in  finem  hie  salvus  erit."  ^ 

My  beloved  Brethren,  all  and  every  one  of  you, 
Belgians  of  occupied  Belgium  and  absent  com- 
patriots, receive  my  episcopal  and  paternal 
blessing. 

D.  J.  Card.  Mercier, 
Archbishop  of  Malines 

^  Matthew  x.  22. 


VI 
BELGIUM  ENSLAVED 


VI 
BELGIUM  ENSLAVED 

CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    CARDINAL   MERCIER 
AND   THE    GERMAN    COMMANDERS 

Letter  of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier,  to 

Governor-General  von  Bissing 

Archdiocese  of  Malines, 
Malines,  October  19,  1916. 

Sir: 

ON  the  day  after  the  capitulation  of  Antwerp 
the  distracted  people  were  asking  what 
would  happen  to  Belgian  citizens  who  were  of 
military  age,  or  who  would  attain  such  age  before 
the  end  of  the  occupation.  In  view  of  the  sup- 
plications I  received  from  fathers  and  mothers, 
I  decided  to  question  the  Governor  of  Antwerp, 
Baron  von  Huene,  who  was  good  enough  to 
reassure  me  and  to  authorize  me  to  reassure  the 
griefstricken  parents.  However,  the  rumor  had 
spread  in  Antwerp  that  at  Liege,  Namur,  and 
Charleroi  young  men  had  been  seized  and  forcibly 
transported  to  Germany.  I,  therefore,  asked 
Governor  von  Huene  to  kindly  confirm  in  writing 
the  verbal  pledge  which  he  had  already  given  me 
that  nothing  of  this  kind  would  happen  at  Ant- 
werp.     He   answered   me   immediately   that   the 

147 


148  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

rumors  of  deportations  were  without  foundation, 
and  wrote  me  a  letter  containing  the  following 
statement:  "Young  men  need  have  no  fear  of 
being  sent  to  Germany,  either  to  be  enrolled  in 
the  army  there,  or  to  be  employed  at  forced 
labor." 

This  declaration,  written  and  signed,  was  pub- 
licly communicated  to  the  clergy  and  faithful  of 
the  Province  of  Antwerp,  as  Your  Excellency 
may  ascertain  from  the  inclosed  document  dated 
October  16,  1914,  which  was  read  in  all  the 
churches. 

When  your  predecessor,  the  late  Baron  von  der 
Goltz,  arrived  in  Brussels,  I  had  the  honor  of 
waiting  on  him,  and  asked  him  to  kindly  ratify 
for  the  whole  country,  and  without  any  limitation 
of  time,  the  pledges  which  General  von  Huene 
had  given  me  for  the  Province  of  Antwerp.  The 
Governor-General  retained  my  petition  to  exam- 
ine it  at  leisure.  The  following  day  he  was  good 
enough  to  come  in  person  to  Malines  and  bring 
me  his  approval.  There,  in  the  presence  of  two 
aides-de-camp  and  of  my  private  secretary,  he 
confirmed  the  promise  that  the  Hberty  of  Belgian 
citizens  would  be  respected. 

To  doubt  the  authority  of  such  pledges  would 
have  been  an  insult  to  the  persons  who  had 
signed  them,  and  I  therefore  employed  all  the 
powers  of  persuasion  I  possessed  to  dispel  the 
persistent  uneasiness  of  the  famiHes  concerned. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I49 

But  now  your  Government  is  tearing  away  from 
their  homes  workers  who,  through  no  fault  of 
their  own,  have  been  reduced  to  a  state  of  "un- 
employment." ^  It  is  violently  separating  them 
from  their  wives  and  children,  and  deporting 
them  to  a  foreign  land.  A  large  number  of  work-, 
men  have  already  met  this  unhappy  fate;  more 
numerous  still  are  those  who  are  menaced  with 
the  same  violence. 

In  the  name  of  the  freedom  of  domicile  and  the 
freedom  of  labor;  in  the  name  of  the  inviolability 
of  family  hfe;  in  the  name  of  morality,  which 
the  policy  of  deportation  would  gravely  com- 
promise; in  the  name  of  the  pledges  given  by  the 
Governor  of  Antwerp  and  the  Governor-General, 
the  immediate  representative  of  the  supreme 
authority  in  the  German  empire,  I  respectfully 
ask  Your  Excellency  to  have  the  measures  of 
compulsory  labor  and  deportation  repealed,  and 
to  restore  to  their  hearths  those  Belgian  work- 
men who  have  been  already  deported. 

Your  Excellency  will  appreciate  how  heavy 
would  be  the  weight  of  my  responsibihty  towards 
famihes  if  the  confidence  which  they  have  re- 
posed  in   you   through   my   intervention   and   on 

1  It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  present  "unem- 
ployment" {chomage)  in  Belgium  is  mainly  the  result  of  the  patri- 
otic refusal  of  the  inhabitants  to  work  for  Germany.  As  the  terms 
"chomage"  and  "chomeurs"  (unemployed)  have  thus  a  special 
meaning  in  this  controversy,  it  has  been  thought  well  to  place  be- 
tween quotation  marks  their  English  equivalents.  —  Tr.^nsl.'VTOr's 
Note. 


150  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

my   recommendation  were  lamentably  deceived. 

I  cannot,  however,  believe  that  such  will  be  the 

case. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

(Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines 
His  Excellency,  Baron  von  Bissing, 
Governor-General,  Brussels. 

On  the  same  day  Cardinal  Mercier  sent  the 
following  letter  to  Baron  von  der  Lancken,  the 
head  of  the  political  department  at  Brussels  and 
the  most  important  German  official  after  the 
Governor-General,  inclosing  a  copy  of  the  above 
protest  addressed  to  Baron  von  Bissing, 

Letter  of  His  Eminence^  Cardinal  Mercier,  to 
Baron  von  der  Lancken 

Archdiocese  of  Malines, 
Malines,  October  19,  1916. 

Sir: 

I  have  had  the  honor  of  sending  His  Excel- 
lency, Baron  von  Bissing,  a  letter  of  which  I 
inclose  a  copy. 

Repeatedly  and  even  publicly  the  Governor- 
General  has  expressed  his  intention  to  reserve 
a  large  share  of  his  solicitude  for  the  interests  of 
the  occupied  territory,  and  you  yourself  have  so 
often  affirmed  the  wish  of  the  German  authorities 
not  to  perpetuate  during  the  period  of  occupa- 
tion the  state  of  war  which   existed   during  its 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  151 

early  days.  Consequently,  I  cannot  believe  that 
you  will  put  into  execution  the  measures  with 
which  your  Government  threatens  the  Belgian 
workmen  who  have  been  reduced,  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  to  a  state  of  "unemployment." 

I  hope  you  will  use  all  your  influence  with  the 
higher  authorities  to  prevent  such  a  crime. 

Do  not  speak  to  us,  I  beg  of  you,  of  the  need  of 
maintaining  public  order,  nor  of  the  burden  on 
public  charity.  Spare  us  this  bitter  irony.  You 
are  well  aware  that  public  order  is  not  menaced, 
and  that  every  moral  and  civil  influence  would 
spontaneously  cooperate  with  you  if  public 
order  were  endangered.  The  "unemployed"  are 
not  a  burden  on  ofl&cial  charity,  and  it  is  not  from 
your  finances  that  they  derive  support. 

Consider  whether  it  is  not  to  the  interest  of 
Germany,  as  well  as  to  your  own,  to  respect  the 
pledges  signed  by  two  high  officials  of  your 
Empire. 

I  feel  confident  that  my  petitions  to  the  Gov- 
ernor-General and  you  will  not  be  misinterpreted 
or  misunderstood,  and  beg  to  remain, 
Yours  respectfully, 
(Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines 
Baron  von  der  Lancken, 

Chief  of  the  Political  Department,  Brussels. 

On  October  26,  Governor-General  von  Bis- 
sing  sent   Cardinal   Mercier   a   letter  which   left 


152  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  His  Eminence  that  the 
German  authorities  had  resolved  to  continue  the 
wholesale  deportations  of  Belgian  citizens.  This 
document  was  sent  in  French  and  in  German.  The 
following  is  a  translation  of  the  authentic  French 
text. 

General  von  Bissings  Answer  to  His  Eminence 

Cardinal  Mercier 

Brussels,  October  26,  1916. 

Your  Eminence: 

In  your  favor  of  October  19,  Your  Eminence 
has  requested  that  Belgian  "unemployed"  should 
not  be  transported  to  Germany.  While  fully 
appreciating  Your  Eminence's  point  of  view,  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  answer  that  you  have  not 
considered  all  the  aspects  of  the  very  difficult 
problem  of  "unemployment"  in  Belgium.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  regard  to  certain  quite 
abnormal  circumstances,  which  have  been  brought 
about  by  two  years  of  warfare  and  which  Your 
Eminence  has  not  considered  in  all  their  bearing. 
The  measures  which  you  wish  countermanded 
are  only  the  expression  of  an  imperious  necessity, 
and  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  war.  Of 
this  you  will  find  an  explanation  below. 

Your  Eminence  begins  your  letter  by  recalling 
the  declarations  which  were  made  by  my  prede- 
cessor and  the  Military  Governor  of  Antwerp 
in   October,    1914.      These   declarations    referred 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I  53 

to  facts  directly  linked  with  the  military  opera- 
tions. They  related  to  Belgians  who  were  subject 
to  military  service,  and  who,  in  accordance  with 
the  generally  accepted  customs  of  warfare,  could 
not  have  been  brought  as  civil  prisoners  to  Ger- 
many, At  this  period  England  and  France  were 
removing  from  neutral  ships  sailing  on  the  high 
seas  all  Germans  between  the  ages  of  seventeen 
and  fifty  years  and  interning  them  in  concentra- 
tion camps.  Germany  has  not  appHed  the  same 
measure  to  Belgium.  The  declarations  made  to 
Your  Eminence  to  enable  you  to  reassure  the 
population  have  been  strictly  observed.  In  any 
case,  these  declarations  were  a  proof  of  the  good 
intentions  with  which  the  German  Governor- 
Generals  undertook  the  administration  of  the 
occupied  territory.  In  view  of  the  clandestine 
and  wholesale  emigration  of  young  Belgians  to 
rejoin  the  Belgian  army,  the  German  authorities 
would  have  been  completely  justified  in  following 
the  example  of  England  and  France.  They  have 
not  done  so.  The  utilization  of  Belgian  "unem- 
ployed" in  Germany,  which  is  being  inaugurated 
only  after  two  years  of  warfare,  differs  essentially 
from  throwing  men  of  military  age  into  captivity. 
The  measure  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  properly  speaking,  but  is 
occasioned  by  social  and  economic  conditions. 

The  economic  isolation  of  Germany  —  a  policy 
which  England  has  pursued  mercilessly  and  with 


154  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  Utmost  vigor  —  has  extended  to  and  pressed 
ever  more  heavily  on  Belgium.  Belgian  industry 
and  commerce,  which  depend  largely  on  the  im- 
portation of  raw  materials  and  the  export  of 
manufactured  goods,  were  vitally  injured.  The  in- 
evitable consequence  was  the  lack  of  work  for 
the  mass  of  the  population.  The  system  of  grant- 
ing subventions,  which  were  allowed  on  a  large 
scale  to  the  "unemployed,"  might  be  acceptable 
in  the  case  of  a  war  of  short  duration.  The  long 
duration  of  the  war  fostered  an  abuse  of  these 
grants,  and  introduced  a  condition  of  affairs 
which  is  intolerable  from  the  social  standpoint. 
As  early  as  the  spring  of  1915  far-seeing  Belgians 
approached  me  and  pointed  out  the  perils  of  the 
situation.  They  emphasized  the  fact  that,  no 
matter  who  might  furnish  the  funds  at  present, 
the  grants  would  ultimately  become  a  burden 
on  the  resources  of  Belgium,  They  pointed  out, 
moreover,  that  the  grants  are  encouraging  the 
workers  to  give  themselves  over  and  accustom 
themselves  to  idleness.  The  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  the  prolongation  of  "unemployment" 
would  be  the  moral  and  physical  deterioration 
of  the  workers.  Skilled  workmen,  especially, 
would  lose  their  technical  aptitude  for  their  trades, 
and  would  grow  useless  for  industry  in  coming 
times  of  peace.  In  accordance  with  these  repre- 
sentations and  in  collaboration  with  the  competent 
Belgian  department,  my  Orders  of  August,  191 5, 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I  55 

against  deliberate  "unemployment"  were  framed. 
These  ordinances  were  completed  by  the  Order 
of  May  I,  1916,  and  provided  for  compulsion 
only  when  a  workman  refuses,  without  a  valid 
reason,  to  undertake  at  proper  wages  a  work 
suited  to  his  ability,  and  thus  becomes  a  charge 
on  pubHc  charity.  Every  refusal  based  on  the 
right  of  nations  is  formally  recognized  as  valid. 
Consequently,  no  workman  can  be  compelled  to 
participate  in  works  connected  with  the  war. 
Your  Eminence  will  recognize  that  these  Orders 
are  based  on  sound  principles  of  legislation,  which, 
it  is  true,  place  general  interests  above  individual 
liberty.  The  social  sores,  which  made  their 
appearance  in  191 5,  having  developed  into  a 
pubhc  calamity,  it  is  now  our  duty  to  apply 
efficaciously  the  Orders  in  question. 

Your  Eminence  invokes  the  high  ideal  of  family 
virtues  in  your  letter.  I  may  be  permitted  to 
answer  that,  like  Your  Eminence,  I  rate  this  ideal 
very  highly,  but  for  this  reason  I  must  also  de- 
clare that  the  working  classes  would  be  in  the 
gravest  danger  of  losing  sight  of  all  ideals,  if  we 
tolerated  a  condition  which  would  inevitably 
grow  worse.  For  idleness  is  the  worst  enemy  of 
family  life.  Men  who  work  for  their  families  at 
a  distance  from  their  homes  —  a  condition  which 
has  always  existed  among  Belgian  workmen  — 
undoubtedly  contribute  more  to  the  well-being 
of  their   families   than   the    "unemployed"   who 


156  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

remain  at  home.  Men  who  undertake  work  in 
Germany  can  maintain  their  relations  with  their 
families.  At  regular  intervals  they  are  given 
leave  of  absence  to  return  to  their  homes.  They 
can  bring  their  families  to  Germany,  where  also 
they  will  find  priests  who  know  their  language. 

Using  their  simple  common  sense,  a  large 
number  of  the  people  have  already  recognized 
these  facts,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  Belgian 
workmen  have  gone  of  their  own  free  will  to 
Germany.  There,  placed  on  a  level  with  German 
workmen,  they  earn  high  wages  which  they  have 
never  known  in  Belgium.  Instead  of  sinking 
into  misery,  as  their  comrades  who  remained  at 
home  have  done,  they  are  improving  their  own 
condition  and  that  of  their  families.  A  large 
number  of  others  would  like  to  follow  their 
example,  but  do  not  dare  to  do  so,  because  influ- 
ences brought  systematically  to  bear  upon  them 
make  them  hesitate.  If  they  do  not  rid  them- 
selves of  these  influences  within  a  reasonable 
time,  they  must  submit  to  compulsion.  The 
responsibility  for  whatever  rigorous  measures 
are  then  taken,  which  might  have  been  avoided, 
must  fall  on  those  who  have  prevented  them  from 
working.  To  enable  Your  Eminence  to  judge 
the  situation  in  its  entirety,  I  ask  you  to  con- 
sider the  following  explanations  which  are  the 
very  essence  of  the  problem: 

The  isolation  policy  adopted  by  England  has 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  1 57 

necessarily  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a 
community  of  economic  interests  between  the 
occupied  territories  and  Germany,  and  Germany 
is  practically  the  only  country  with  which  Belgium 
can  have  commercial  relations.  Although  the 
practice  is  common  between  enemy  countries, 
Germany  has  not  refused  to  make  payments  in 
Belgium,  and  consequently  German  money  is 
always  entering  the  country.  The  wages  of 
Belgians  working  in  Germany  increase  this  flow 
still  further.  Besides,  the  occupation  itself  re- 
sults in  a  constant  movement  of  money  to  Bel- 
gium, and  to  this  must  be  added  the  war  levies 
which,  in  accordance  with  the  established  and 
recognized  principle,  are  spent  exclusively  in  the 
country.  The  community  of  interests  resulting 
from  existing  conditions  imposes  on  both  parties, 
by  the  very  logic  of  things,  the  necessity  of  ex- 
change and  of  maintaining  a  proper  equilibrium 
between  the  elements  of  economic  life.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  workmen  being  idle  in 
Belgium  while  there  is  a  shortage  of  labor  in 
Germany,  it  becomes  both  a  social  and  economic 
duty  to  employ  the  Belgian  ''unemployed"  in 
productive  work  in  Germany.  This  is  necessi- 
tated by  the  community  of  interests.  If  there  is 
any  objection  to  be  offered  to  this  condition  of 
things,  it  should  be  addressed  to  England,  which 
has  created  the  necessity  by  its  policy  of  isolation. 
Your    Eminence   will    see    from    the    foregoing 


158  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

that  the  problem  is  very  complex.     I  should  feel 

a  deep  satisfaction  if,  after  my  explanation,  you 

would  examine  the  problem  from  the  social  and 

economic  standpoint. 

Yours  most  respectfully 

(Signed)  Frh.  von  Bissing 

Lieutenant-General 

His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier, 
Archbishop  of  Malines,  Malines. 

The  above  letter  showed  clearly  that  the  German 
authorities  had  no  intention  of  acceding  to  the 
legitimate  complaints  of  the  Belgian  people. 
The  deportations  continued  with  that  pitiless 
regularity  which  characterizes  even  the  harshest 
measures  of  the  Berlin  Government,  as  if  the 
sufferings  and  complaints  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  men,  women,  and  innocent  children  counted 
as  nothing  with  the  occupying  Power.  The  only 
resort  of  the  Belgian  bishops  was  to  direct  public 
opinion  towards  the  vexatious  measures  taken  by 
the  invader.  On  November  7,  therefore,  the 
Belgian  bishops  issued  the  Appeal  to  Pubhc 
Opinion. 

Appeal  of  the  Belgian  Bishops  to  Public  Opinion 

Malines,  November  7,  1916. 
The    military    authorities    are    deporting    daily 
from  Belgium  to  Germany  thousands  of  inoffensive 
citizens  and  there  assigning  them  to  forced  labor. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I  59 

On  October  19,  we  sent  the  Governor-General 
a  protest,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Holy  See,  Spain,  the  United  States, 
and  Holland  at  Brussels.  The  Governor-General 
repHed  that  it  was  impossible  to  grant  our  petition. 
At  the  time  of  our  protest  the  ordinances  of  the 
occupying  Power  menaced  only  the  "unem- 
ployed." To-day,  all  able-bodied  men  are  being 
taken  away  indiscriminately,  herded  into  wagons, 
and  deported  no  one  knows  where,  like  a  troop 
of  slaves.  The  work  of  the  enemy  is  proceeding 
by  districts.  A  vague  rumor  had  reached  our 
ears  that  arrests  had  been  made  in  the  depots  at 
Tournai,  at  Ghent,  and  at  Alost,  but  we  did  not 
know  under  what  conditions.  Between  October 
24  and  November  2  the  enemy  was  active  in 
the  region  of  Mons,  Quievrain,  Saint-Ghislain, 
Jemappes,  drafts  of  from  eight  hundred  to  twelve 
hundred  men  being  arrested  daily.  To-morrow 
and  the  following  days  the  district  of  Nivelles 
will  be  descended  on.  Here  is  a  copy  of  the 
notice  announcing  the  outrage: 

"By  order  of  the  Kreischef  all  persons  of  the 
male  sex  of  over  seventeen  years  of  age  are  sum- 
moned to  be  present  at  the  Place  St.  Paul,  Ni- 
velles, November  8,  1916,  at  eight  o'clock 
(H.  B.),  nine  o'clock  (H.  C.),  bringing  their 
identification  cards,  and  also  (if  they  possess 
them)  their  Meldeamt  cards. 

"Only  small  hand  baggage  may  be  brought. 


l6o  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

"Anyone  who  does  not  present  himself  will  be 
forcibly  deported  to  Germany,  and  will  be  liable 
besides  to  a  heavy  fine  and  long  imprisonment. 

"Ecclesiastics,  doctors,  lawyers,  and  teachers 
are  not  required  to  present  themselves. 

"The  burgomasters  will  be  held  responsible 
for  the  proper  execution  of  this  order,  which 
must  be  brought  immediately  to  the  attention  of 
the  inhabitants." 

There  is  an  interval  of  twenty-four  hours 
between  the  posting  of  the  notice  and  the 
deportation. 

Under  the  pretext  that  certain  pubHc  works 
had  to  be  executed  on  Belgian  soil,  the  occupying 
Power  had  endeavored  to  obtain  from  the  com- 
munes the  lists  of  "  unemployed  "  workmen.  Most 
of  the  communes  proudly  refused  to  supply  this 
information. 

Three  Orders  of  the  Governor-General  were 
issued  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  blow  which 
strikes  us  to-day. 

On  August  15,  191 5,  the  first  Order  imposed 
compulsory  labor  on  all  "unemployed"  under 
penalty  of  a  fine  and  imprisonment,  but  declared 
that  they  would  be  engaged  only  on  works  in 
Belgium,  and  that  infringements  of  the  decree 
would  be  tried  by  Belgian  tribunals. 

A  second  Order,  of  May  2,  191 6,  reserves  to 
the  German  authorities  the  right  of  furnishing 
work  for  the  "unemployed,"  and  threatens  with 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  l6l 

a  penalty  of  three  years'  imprisonment  and  a  fine 
of  20,000  marks,  any  person  who  shall  have  any 
works  executed  which  are  not  authorized  by  the 
Governor-General.  By  virtue  of  this  same  Order, 
the  competence  to  try  infringements  of  the 
Order  is  transferred  from  Belgian  to  German 
tribunals. 

A  third  Order,  dated  May  13,  1916,  "author- 
izes the  Governors,  military  commanders,  and 
district  chiefs,  to  order  the  'unemployed'  to  be 
forcibly  conducted  to  the  places  where  they  are 
to  work."  This  was,  true  enough,  forced  labor, 
but  always  on  Belgian  territory. 

To-day  it  is  no  longer  forced  labor  in  Belgium 
but  in  Germany  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ger- 
mans. And,  to  give  an  outward  semblance  of 
plausibility  to  its  violent  measures,  the  occupy- 
ing Power  cites  the  following  two  pretexts  in  the 
German  press  of  Germany  and  Belgium:  The 
"unemployed"  are  a  menace  to  public  order, 
and  a  charge  on  official  charity. 

These  allegations  have  been  answered  in  the 
letter  which  we  addressed  to  the  Governor-General 
and  the  Chief  of  his  political  department  on 
October  19: 

"You  are  well  aware  that  public  order  is  not 
menaced,  and  that  every  moral  and  civil  influence 
would  spontaneously  cooperate  with  you  if 
public  order  were  endangered. 

"The  'unemployed'  are  not  a  burden  on  official 


l62  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

charity,  and  it  is  not  from  your  finances  that  they 
derive  support." 

In  his  reply,  the  Governor-General  no  longer 
invokes  these  two  considerations,  but  alleges 
that  the  grants  to  the  "unemployed,"  from  what- 
soever source  they  may  come  at  present,  must 
eventually  be  a  burden  on  our  finances,  and  that 
it  is  the  task  of  a  good  administrator  to  relieve 
them  of  these  charges.  He  adds  that  "the  pro- 
longation of  'unemployment'  would  deprive  our 
workmen  of  their  technical  aptitude,  and  that 
they  would  grow  useless  for  industry  in  coming 
times  of  peace." 

There  were,  it  is  true,  other  means  to  protect 
our  finances  —  for  example,  by  sparing  us  war 
levies  which  have  already  attained  a  thousand- 
millions,  and  are  mounting  at  the  rate  of  forty 
millions  a  month;  by  sparing  us  requisitions  in 
kind,  which  already  amount  to  several  thousand 
millions,  and  are  exhausting  our  country. 

There  were  other  means  available  for  preserving 
the  skill  of  our  trained  workmen  —  for  example, 
by  leaving  Belgian  industry  its  machinery  and 
accessories,  its  raw  materials  and  the  manufac- 
tured products  which  have  been  sent  from  Bel- 
gium to  Germany.  Nor  is  it  in  the  quarries  or 
lime-kilns,  to  which  the  Germans  declare  they 
will  send  our  "unemployed,"  that  our  specialists 
will  perfect  their  professional  education. 

The  naked  truth  is  that  every  deported  work- 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  163 

man  means  a  soldier  added  to  the  German  army, 
for  he  will  take  the  place  of  a  German  workman 
who  will  be  made  into  a  soldier. 

Consequently,  the  situation  which  we  denounce 
to  the  civilized  world  may  be  reduced  to  these 
terms:  Four  hundred  thousand  workers  are  re- 
duced to  "unemployment"  through  no  fault  of 
their  own  and  largely  because  of  the  German 
occupation.  Sons,  husbands,  and  fathers,  they 
bear  their  unhappy  lot  unmurmuringly  and 
respect  public  order.  Provision  for  their  most 
pressing  needs  has  been  made,  thanks  to  our 
national  solidarity.  By  dint  of  parsimony  and 
generous  self-denial,  they  are  saved  from  extreme 
misery,  and  are  awaiting  with  dignity  the  end  of 
our  common  trial,  safe  in  the  intimacy  which  is 
fostered  by  national  grief. 

Gangs  of  soldiers  force  their  way  into  these 
peaceful  households,  and  tear  the  young  men 
from  their  parents,  the  husband  from  his  wife, 
the  father  from  his  children.  At  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  the  soldiers  prevent  wives  and  mothers 
from  throwing  themselves  into  the  arms  of  the 
departing  ones  to  bid  them  a  last  adieu.  The 
captives  are  ranged  in  groups  of  forty  or  fifty, 
and  forcibly  hoisted  into  railroad  wagons.  The 
locomotive  is  under  steam,  and,  as  soon  as  the 
train  is  filled,  an  officer  gives  the  signal  to  start. 
Another  thousand  Belgians  have  been  reduced 
to  slavery,  and,  without  a  preliminary  trial,  have 


164  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

been  condemned  to  the  severest  punishment  in 
the  penal  code  except  death  —  deportation.  They 
do  not  know  whither  they  are  going,  nor  how  long 
their  absence  will  endure.  All  they  know  is  that 
their  work  will  benefit  only  the  enemy.  In  several 
cases,  by  bribes  or  threats,  a  contract,  which 
the  Germans  venture  to  describe  as  "voluntary," 
has  been  extorted  from  the  exiles. 

Furthermore,  while  the  "unemployed"  are 
indeed  enrolled,  a  large  number  of  others  who 
have  never  been  unemployed,  and  belong  to  the 
most  varied  professions,  have  been  also  recruited. 
This  latter  class,  which  formed  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  the  total  in  the  district  of  Mons,  includes 
butchers,  bakers,  foremen-tailors,  brass  workers, 
electricians  and  farmers.  Even  the  very  young 
were  taken  —  students  in  colleges,  universities  and 
other  high  schools. 

And  yet  two  high  officials  of  the  German  Em- 
pire had  formally  guaranteed  us  the  liberty  of  our 
fellow-citizens. 

On  the  day  after  the  capitulation  of  Antwerp, 
the  distracted  population  was  asking  what  would 
become  of  Belgians  who  were  of  military  age,  or 
who  would  attain  such  age  before  the  end  of  the 
occupation.  Baron  von  Huene,  Military  Governor 
of  Antwerp,  then  authorized  me  to  reassure 
anxious  parents  in  his  name.  Nevertheless,  as  it 
was  rumored  in  Antwerp  that  young  men  had  been 
seized  at  Liege,  Namur,   and   Charleroi  and   de- 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  165 

ported  to  Germany,  I  begged  Governor  von 
Huene  to  confirm  in  writing  the  guarantees  which 
he  had  given  me  verbally.  He  answered  that  the 
rumors  of  deportations  were  groundless,  and  gave 
me  without  hesitation  the  written  statement 
which  was  read  in  all  the  parish  churches  of  the 
Province  of  Antwerp,  on  Sunday,  October  18, 
1914:  "Young  men  need  have  no  fear  of  being 
sent  to  Germany,  either  to  be  enrolled  in  the 
army  there,  or  to  be  employed  at  forced  labor." 

On  the  arrival  of  Baron  von  der  Goltz  in  Brus- 
sels, in  the  capacity  of  Governor-General,  I  went 
and  asked  him  to  ratify  for  the  whole  country, 
and  without  any  limitation  of  time,  the  pledges 
already  granted  by  Governor  von  Heune  for  the 
Province  of  Antwerp.  The  Governor-General 
retained  my  petition  to  examine  it  at  leisure.  On 
the  following  day,  he  came  in  person  to  Malines, 
bringing  his  approval  and,  in  the  presence  of  two 
aides-de-camp  and  my  private  secretary,  con- 
firmed the  promise  that  the  liberty  of  Belgian 
citizens  would  be  respected. 

In  my  letter  of  October  19  last  to  Baron  von 
Bissing,  after  reminding  him  of  the  pledges  given 
by  his  predecessor,  I  concluded: 

"Your  Excellency  will  appreciate  how  heavy 
would  be  the  weight  of  my  responsibility  towards 
families  if  the  confidence  which  they  have  re- 
posed in  you  through  my  intervention  and  on 
my  recommendation  were  lamentably  deceived." 


l66  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

The  Governor-General  replied:  "The  utiliza- 
tion of  Belgian  'unemployed'  in  Germany,  which 
is  being  inaugurated  only  after  two  years  of  war- 
fare, diflPers  essentially  from  throwing  men  of 
military  age  into  captivity.  The  measure  has 
nothing  at  all  to  do  with  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  properly  speaking,  but  is  occasioned  by 
social  and  economic  conditions." 

As  if  the  word  of  an  honest  man  were  annulable 
at  the  end  of  one  or  two  years,  like  an  officer's 
lease! 

As  if  the  declaration  confirmed  in  1914  did  not 
expressly  exclude  military  operations  and  forced 
labor! 

As  if,  in  fine,  every  Belgian  workman,  who  takes 
the  place  of  a  German,  did  not  allow  the  latter  to 
fill  a  gap  in  the  German  army! 

We  pastors  of  those  flocks  which  are  being  torn 
from  us  by  brutal  force,  are  filled  with  anguish 
at  the  idea  of  the  moral  and  religious  isolation 
in  which  our  flocks  will  languish.  Impotent  wit- 
nesses of  the  grief  and  terror  of  so  many  destroyed 
and  menaced  households,  we  appeal  to  believers 
and  non-believers  alike  —  among  our  Allies,  in 
neutral  countries,  and  even  among  our  enemies  — 
who  retain  a  respect  for  human  dignity. 

When  Cardinal  Lavigerie  undertook  his  cam- 
paign against  slavery,  Pope  Leo  XIII,  while 
blessing  his  mission,  said:  "Opinion  is  more  than 
ever   the   queen   of  the   world;    you   should   act 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  1 67 

through  it.     Through   pubhc  opinion   alone  will 
you  attain  victory." 

May  the  Divine  Providence  graciously  inspire 
all  who  possess  authority,  a  word  or  a  pen,  to 
rally  around  our  humble  Belgian  flag  for  the 
abolition  of  European  slavery! 

May  the  conscience  of  man  triumph  over  all 
sophisms,  and  remain  unalterably  faithful  to  the 
great  maxim  of  St.  Ambrose:  Honor  above  all! 
Nihil  prcsferendum  honestati! 

In  the  name  of  the  Belgian  Bishops,  ^ 
{Signed)  D.  J.  Card.  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  M alines 

In  his  letter  of  October  26  to  Cardinal 
Mercier,  the  Governor-General  endeavored  to 
justify  the  measures  adopted  in  Belgium  by 
having  recourse  to  all  kinds  of  sophisms  and 
subterfuges,  for  example:  the  situation  is  no 
longer  the  same  as  it  was  two  years  ago;  France 
and  England  are  responsible  for  the  deportations 
of  Belgian  workmen;  the  deportation  of  the 
"unemployed"  is  occasioned  by  social  and  eco- 
nomic considerations,  and  proves  the  interest  we 
feel  in  these  workmen;  besides,  it  is  England 
which,  by  its  isolation  poHcy,  created  the  actual 
necessity  for  the  deportations,  etc.,  etc. 

Cardinal  Mercier  believed  that  he  could  not 
allow  to  go  unanswered  the  false  allegations  and 

^  We  were  unable  to  get  into  communication  with  the  Bishop  of 
Bruges. 


l68  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

calumnies  about  Belgian  workmen  contained  in 
the  above-mentioned  letter.  He  therefore  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  Baron  von  Bissing  on 
November  lo,  1916. 

Second  Letter  of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal 
Mercier,  to  Governor-General  von  Bissing 

Archdiocese  of  Malines, 
Malines,  November  lo,  1916. 

Sir: 

I  refrain  from  expressing  to  Your  Excel- 
lency the  sentiments  aroused  in  me  by  your 
letter  (I,  1005 1),  written  in  answer  to  that 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  address  to  you  on 
October  19  on  the  subject  of  the  deportation 
of  the  "unemployed." 

I  have  a  melancholy  recollection  of  the  words 
which  Your  Excellency  pronounced  in  my  pres- 
ence on  his  arrival  in  Brussels,  emphasizing  every 
syllable:  "I  hope  that  our  relations  will  be 
loyal.  ...  I  have  been  given  the  mission  of 
dressing  the  wounds  of  Belgium." 

My  letter  of  October  19  reminded  Your 
Excellency  of  the  pledge  given  by  Baron  von 
Huene,  Military  Governor  of  Antwerp,  and  rati- 
fied some  days  later  by  Baron  von  der  Goltz, 
your  predecessor  as  Governor-General  at  Brussels. 
The  pledge  was  explicit,  absolute  and  without 
limitation  as  to  time:  "Young  men  need  have  no 
fear  of  being  sent  to  Germany,  there  either  to  be 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  169 

enrolled  in  the  army  or  to  he  employed  at  forced 
labor'' 

This  pledge  has  been  violated  thousands  of 
times  daily  during  the  last  fortnight. 

Baron  von  Huene  and  the  late  Baron  von  der 
Goltz  made  no  such  condition,  as  your  dispatch 
of  October  26  would  suggest:  "If  the  occupa- 
tion does  not  last  more  than  two  years,  men  of 
military  age  will  not  be  sent  into  captivity." 
They  stated  unconditionally  that  "young  men, 
and,  still  more,  men  who  have  reached  a  mature 
age,  will  not  be  imprisoned,  nor  subjected  to 
forced  labor,  at  any  time  during  the  period  of  the 
occupation." 

To  justify  himself.  Your  Excellency  adduces 
the  conduct-  of  England  and  France,  which 
have.  Your  Excellency  states,  "removed  all 
Germans  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  fifty 
from  neutral  vessels  and  interned  them  in  con- 
centration camps." 

If  England  and  France  had  committed  an  in- 
justice, your  vengeance  should  be  directed  against 
the  English  and  French,  and  not  against  an 
inoffensive  and  disarmed  people.  But  has  there 
been  an  injustice?  We  are  ill  informed  as  to  what 
happens  outside  the  walls  of  our  prison,  but  we 
feel  greatly  tempted  to  believe  that  the  Ger- 
mans so  seized  and  interned  belonged  to  the  re- 
serve forces  of  the  Imperial  army.  They  were 
thus   soldiers   whom    England    and    France   were 


170  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

justified  in  sending  to  the  concentration  camps. 
Only  since  August,  191 3,  has  Belgium  inaugurated 
universal  military  service  for  all  her  citizens. 

Belgians  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and 
fifty  years,  now  residing  in  the  occupied  part  of 
Belgium,  are  thus  civilians  and  non-combatants. 
It  is  playing  with  words  to  compare  them  to 
German  reservists  by  applying  to  them  the 
equivocal  phrase:  "men  liable  to  military  service." 

The  Orders,  notices  and  press  comments, 
which  were  intended  to  prepare  public  opinion 
for  the  measures  now  being  put  into  execution, 
relied  mainly  on  two  points:  The  "unemployed," 
it  was  affirmed,  are  a  danger  to  public  safety, 
and  they  are  a  charge  on  official  charity. 

As  already  stated  in  my  letter  of  October  19, 
it  is  not  true  that  our  workmen  have  disturbed, 
or  even  threatened  anywhere,  public  order.  Five 
millions  of  Belgians  and  hundreds  of  Ameri- 
cans are  astonished  witnesses  of  the  dignity  and 
unwavering  patience  of  our  working  class. 

It  is  not  true  that  our  "unemployed"  are  a 
charge  either  on  the  occupying  Power  or  on  the 
charity  provided  by  its  Administration.  The 
National  Committee,  in  which  the  occupying 
Power  has  no  active  participation,  is  the  sole 
provider  of  support  for  the  innocent  victims  of 
forced  "unemployment." 

These  two  statements,  made  already  In  my 
previous  letter,  have  remained  unanswered. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I7I 

Your  letter  of  October  26  attempts  another 
method  of  justification.  It  alleges  that  the 
measures  against  the  "unemployed"  were  neces- 
sitated by  "social"  and  "economic"  reasons. 
Because  it  has  a  warmer  and  more  intelHgent 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Belgian  nation 
than  we,  the  German  Government  is  rescuing 
the  workman  from  idleness  and  preventing  him 
from  losing  his  technical  aptitude.  Forced  labor 
is  the  exchange  value  of  the  economical  ad- 
vantages which  we  derive  from  our  commercial 
relations  with  the  Empire. 

Finally,  if  Belgium  has  any  complaints  to  make 
with  regard  to  her  condition,  let  her  address  them 
to  England,  who  is  the  chief  culprit.  "It  is  she 
who,  by  her  policy  of  isolation,  has  occasioned 
this  necessity." 

A  few  brief  and  frank  statements  will  be  suf- 
ficient answer  to  this  pleading,  which  is  halting 
and  complicated  in  the  original  letter. 

Every  Belgian  workman  will  release  a  German 
workman,  who  will  be  one  soldier  more  for  the 
German  army.  There,  in  all  its  simplicity,  is 
the  dominating  fact  of  the  situation.  The  writer 
of  the  letter  himself  appreciates  this  vital  fact, 
for  he  states:  "The  measure  has  nothing  at  all 
to  do  with  the  war,  properly  speaking."  It  has 
thus  some  connection  with  the  war  "improperly 
speaking;"  and  what  does  this  mean  except  that, 
while    the    Belgian    workman    does    not    actually 


172  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

bear  arms,  he  releases  a  German  worker  who  will 
bear  them?  The  Belgian  workman  is  compelled 
to  cooperate,  indirectly  but  evidently,  in  the 
war  against  his  own  country.  This  is  in  mani- 
fest contradiction  to  the  spirit  of  the  Hague 
Convention. 

Again,  the  lack  of  "employment"  has  not  been 
caused  by  the  Belgian  workman  or  England;  it 
is  the  effect  of  the  German  regime  of  occupation. 

The  occupying  Power  has  taken  possession  of 
large  quantities  of  raw  materials  destined  for 
our  national  industries.  It  has  seized  and  sent 
to  Germany  machinery,  tools,  and  metals  from 
our  mills  and  workshops.  With  the  possibility 
of  national  industry  thus  destroyed,  the  work- 
man is  faced  with  the  alternative  of  working  for 
the  German  Empire  —  here  or  in  Germany  — 
or  of  remaining  idle.  To  the  regret  of  the  ma- 
jority, some  tens  of  thousands  of  workmen  have 
undertaken  work  for  the  foreign  Government 
under  the  pressure  of  fear  or  hunger.  But  four 
hundred  thousand  working  men  and  women  pre- 
ferred "unemployment,"  with  its  privations,  to  the 
betrayal  of  the  interests  of  their  native  land,  and 
these  live  in  poverty  and  dependence  on  the 
meager  assistance  given  them  by  the  National 
Relief  Committee,  which  is  controlled  by  the 
ministers  of  Spain,  America,  and  Holland.  Calm 
and  deserving,  they  bear  their  hard  lot  unmur- 
muringly.     Nowhere  has  there  been  a  revolt,  or 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  173 

a  semblance  of  a  revolt.  Employers  and  work- 
men courageously  await  the  end  of  their  long 
trial. 

The  communal  administrations  and  private 
individuals  tried  to  diminish  the  undeniable 
evils  of  "unemployment,"  but  the  occupying 
Power  paralyzed  their  efforts.  The  National 
Committee  tried  to  organize  technical  instruc- 
tion for  the  "unemployed."  This  practical  in- 
struction, while  respecting  the  dignity  of  our 
workmen,  was  to  preserve  their  skill,  increase 
their  capabilities,  and  prepare  them  to  do  their 
part  in  the  rebuilding  of  their  country.  Who 
opposed  this  noble  movement,  after  the  plans 
had  been  worked  out  by  our  industrial  leaders? 
The  occupying  Power.  Nevertheless,  the  com- 
munes strove  to  have  works  of  public  utility 
executed  by  the  "unemployed."  The  Governor- 
General  made  these  works  conditional  on  an 
official  authorization,  which  was  then,  as  a  rule, 
refused.  The  cases  are  not  rare,  I  am  assured, 
in  which  the  Government  authorized  works  of 
this  nature  on  the  express  condition  that  they 
were  not  entrusted  to  the  "unemployed." 

"Unemployment"  was  thus  desired.  An  army 
of  "unemployed"  was  being  recruited.  And,  in 
face  of  these  facts,  they  dare  to  apply  to  our 
workingmen  the  insulting  appellative,  "idler." 

No,  the  Belgian  workman  is  not  an  idler.  He 
is  devoted  to  his  work.     This  he  has  proved  in 


174  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  noble  struggles  of  economic  life.  When  he 
scorned  the  highly  paid  work  oflFered  him  by  the 
occupying  Power,  he  was  actuated  by  patriotic 
dignity.  As  pastor  of  our  people,  we  share  more 
intimately  than  ever  its  sorrows  and  distress, 
and  know  what  it  has  cost  at  times  to  prefer  inde- 
pendence in  privation  to  comfort  in  subjection. 
Cast  no  stone  at  this  people.  It  is  entitled  to 
your  respect. 

Your  letter  of  October  26  states  that  England 
is  primarily  responsible  for  the  "unemployment" 
of  our  workmen,  because  she  has  not  allowed  raw 
materials  to  enter  Belgium. 

England  generously  allows  foodstuffs  to  enter 
Belgium  under  the  control  of  the  neutral  coun- 
tries —  Spain,  the  United  States,  and  Holland. 
She  v/ould  assuredly  allow  the  importation  of  the 
raw  materials  necessary  for  our  industries  under 
the  same  control,  if  Germany  would  bind  herself 
to  leave  them  to  us  and  not  seize  the  products  of 
our  industrial  labor. 

But  Germany,  by  divers  methods  (notably,  by 
the  organization  of  its  Zentral-Stellen,  in  which 
neither  the  Belgians  nor  the  neutral  officers  can 
exercise  an  eflFective  control),  is  absorbing  a 
considerable  part  of  the  products  of  our  agri- 
culture and  industrial  plants.  There  thus  results 
a  disquieting  increase  in  the  cost  of  living,  which 
is  causing  grave  privations  for  those  who  have  no 
savings.     The  ''community  of  interests,"  whose 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  1 75 

great  value  for  us  is  lauded  in  your  letter,  is  not 
the  normal  equilibrium  of  commercial  exchanges, 
but  the  predominance  of  the  strong  over  the 
weak.  Do  not,  I  beg  of  you,  represent  this  state 
of  inferiority  to  which  we  are  reduced  as  a  privi- 
lege which  would  justify  forced  work  for  our  enemy, 
and  the  deportation  of  legions  of  innocent  people 
into  exile. 

Slavery  and  deportation,  the  hardest  punish- 
ment in  the  penal  code  after  death  —  has  Bel- 
gium, which  never  did  you  an  evil,  merited  from 
you  this  treatment,  which  calls  to  Heaven  for 
vengeance  ? 

Sir,  at  the  beginning  of  my  letter,  I  recalled 
the  noble  utterance  of  Your  Excellency:  "I  have 
come  to  Belgium  with  the  mission  of  dressing 
your  country's  wounds." 

If  Your  Excellency,  like  our  priests,  could  visit 
the  homes  of  our  workmen  and  hear  the  lamenta- 
tions of  wives  and  mothers,  for  whom  your  ordi- 
nances spell  mourning  and  dread,  you  would 
realize  better  how  gaping  are  the  wounds  of  the 
Belgian  people. 

Two  years  ago,  people  are  saying,  we  faced 
death,  pillage,  and  conflagration,  but  it  was  war. 
To-day  it  is  no  longer  war;  it  is  cold  calculation, 
premeditated  destruction,  the  victory  of  might 
over  right,  the  debasement  of  human  nature,  a 
defiance  of  humanity. 

It  is  within  the  power  of  Your  Excellency  to 


176  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Stifle  these  outcries  of  outraged  conscience.    May 

God,  whom  we  invoke  with  all  the  ardor  of  our 

soul  on  behalf  of  our  oppressed   people,   inspire 

in  you  the  pity  of  the  Good  Samaritan! 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

(Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  0/  Malines 

His  Excellency,  Baron  von  Bissing, 
Governor-General,  Brussels. 

On  November  23,  Governor-General  von 
Bissing  sent  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier, 
the  following  answer,  which  is  translated  from 
the  German  text. 

Governor-General    von     Bissing  s    Answer    to    the 
Second  Letter  of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier 

The  Governor-General  of  Belgium,  P.  A.  L  11254. 

Brussels,  November  23,  1916. 

Your  Eminence: 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt  of 
Your  Eminence's  favor  of  the  loth  inst.,  as  also 
of  the  manuscript  letter  of  the  15th  inst.  con- 
cerning the  delay  in  delivery.  I  wish  to  reply 
as  follows. 

On  October  19  of  this  year.  Your  Eminence 
sent  me  a  petition  with  a  view  to  having  a  stop 
put  to  the  employment  in  Germany  of  idle  Bel- 
gian workmen.  In  my  reply  of  October  28, 
while  appreciating  at  its  proper  value  the  point 
of  view  which  you  take,  I  explained  the  reasons 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I77 

and  the  considerations  which  compelled  the  occu- 
pying Power  to  take  certain  steps  in  connection 
with  the  question  of  the  workmen.  These  meas- 
ures were  not  the  result  of  arbitrary  judgment  or 
of  an  insufficient  study  of  the  difficult  problem, 
but  were  adopted  after  an  exhaustive  examination 
of  the  circumstances  involved,  and  in  face  of  a 
necessity  which  must  be  recognized  as  unavoidable. 
As  regards  the  general  aspects  of  the  question,  I 
thus  find  myself  obliged  to  refer  Your  Eminence 
to  my  statements  of  October  28.  Your  objections 
to  these  statements  either  rest  on  erroneous  inter- 
pretation of  them,  or  are  the  result  of  conceptions 
of  which  I  cannot  approve  in  their  essence. 
For  "unemployment,"  which  has  attained  consid- 
erable proportions  in  Belgium,  is  a  great  social 
wound,  while  it  is  a  social  benefit  for  the  Belgian 
workers  to  be  put  to  work  in  Germany.  It  is 
true  that,  on  my  arrival  in  Belgium,  I  told  Your 
Eminence  I  wished  to  heal  the  wounds  which  war 
had  caused  among  the  Belgian  people;  but  the 
measures  now  taken  are  not  in  contradiction  to 
these  words.  I  may  also  say  that  Your  Eminence 
misinterprets  facts  when  you  try  to  ignore  my 
frequently  successful  efforts  to  reestablish  eco- 
nomic life  in  Belgium  by  remarking  that  an  artifi- 
cial "unemployment"  has  been  thereby  created. 
England  has  imposed  unacceptable  conditions  on 
the  importation  of  raw  materials  into  Belgium 
and  the  export  of  manufactured  goods.     During 


178  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  war  these  questions  have  been  the  subject 
of  serious  negotiations  with  competent  persons 
of  both  Belgian  nationaUty  and  neutral  nations, 
but  it  would  be  too  tedious  to  explain  them  here. 
I  can  only  repeat  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  the 
deplorable  conditions  are  a  result  of  England's 
isolation  policy,  just  as  the  requisition  of  raw 
materials  were  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
same  policy.  I  must  also  absolutely  maintain 
that,  from  the  economic  standpoint,  the  occupy- 
ing Power  is  guaranteeing  Belgium  all  the  ad- 
vantages that  can  be  assured  her  in  the  face  of 
the  constraint  exercised  by  England. 

The  execution  of  the  measures  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  "unemployed"  has  caused  my 
administration  many  difficulties,  which  in  turn 
entail  hardship  for  the  population.  All  this 
hardship  might  have  been  avoided  if  the  communal 
administrations  had  cooperated  properly  with  us 
in  rendering  the  execution  more  simple  and  better 
adapted  to  the  end  proposed.  Under  existing 
conditions  it  has  been  necessary  to  extend  the 
measures  to  a  wider  circle  so  as  to  bring  within 
their  scope  a  larger  number  of  persons.  Every 
possible  precaution  has,  however,  been  taken  to 
diminish  the  number  of  errors.  Definite  cate- 
gories of  persons,  determined  by  their  occupation, 
are  relieved  of  the  obligation  of  presenting  them- 
selves, and  individual  complaints  are  examined 
immediately  or  adjourned  for  further  examination. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  179 

Your  Eminence  will  see  from  the  above  state- 
ments that  it  is  impossible  to  grant  your  request 
of  repealing  the  measures  which  have  been  taken, 
but  that,  in  the  application  of  these  measures, 
nothing  that  it  is  possible  to  do  in  the  public 
interest  is  being  left  undone,  in  spite  of  the 
difficulties  which  have  arisen. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

{Signed)  Frh.  von  Bissing 

Lieutenant-General 
His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier, 
Archbishop  oj  Malines,  Malines. 

Despite  the  numerous  protests  and  petitions 
of  the  civil  powers  in  Belgium,  despite  the  Appeal 
of  the  Belgian  Bishops  to  Public  Opinion,  despite 
the  strong  letters  of  protest  addressed  by  Cardinal 
Mercier  to  the  German  authorities,  the  enemy 
continued  the  deportations  in  contravention  of 
all  rights  and  treaties.  The  intrepid  Cardinal  of 
Malines  spent  three  days  paying  consolatory 
visits  to  families  which  had  been  reduced  to  the 
depths  of  physical  and  moral  misery  by  the  iniqui- 
tous measures  of  an  enemy  devoid  of  every  senti- 
ment of  pity  and  humanity.  No  longer  able  to 
restrain  the  indignation  provoked  by  so  much 
suffering  and  so  much  injustice.  His  Eminence 
resolved  to  attack  publicly  the  violation  of  the 
rights  of  the  workmen,  to  proclaim  that  injus- 
tice "resting  on  force  remains  none  the  less  in- 
justice," to  declare  the  deep  sorrow  of  the  bishops 


l80  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

at  the  sufferings  of  their  flocks,  and  to  urge  his 
fellow-countrymen  to  await  in  patience  and  dignity 
peace  with  victory. 

On  November  26,  1916,  the  Cardinal  de- 
livered the  following  sermon  in  the  Church  of 
Sainte  Gudule  at  Brussels  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Mass  prescribed  in  honor  of  Our  Lady  of  Help 
for  the  intentions  of  the  deported  and  their 
families : 

FOR   THOSE  IN  CJPTIFITT 

"  Ye  shall  be  My  disciples  indeed,  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and 
the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  —  John  viii.  32-33. 

My  Very  Dear  Brethren: 

The  four  or  five  weeks  which  have  just  gone 
by  are  probably  the  most  unhappy  of  my  life 
and  the  most  heartbreaking  of  my  episcopal 
service.  The  fathers  and  mothers  who  are 
gathered  round  this  pulpit  will  understand 
me. 

The  office  of  the  bishop  is  a  spiritual  father- 
hood. St.  Paul  even  called  it  a  motherhood  when 
he  wrote  to  the  Galatians:  "My  Httle  children,  of 
whom  I  am  in  labor  again,  until  Christ  be  formed 
m  you.    '■ 

Now  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  my  flock  in  danger 
and  in  grief.  For  three  days,  last  Sunday,  Mon- 
day, Tuesday,  morning  and  evening,  I  have  been 
traveling    through    those    parts    of   the    country 

^  Galatians  iv.  19. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  l8l 

whence  the  first  laborers  and  workmen  of  my 
diocese  were  forcibly  carried  into  exile.  At  Wavre, 
Court  St.  Etienne,  Nivelles,  Tubize,  Braine- 
I'Alleud,  I  entered  more  than  a  hundred  homes  that 
are  now  half  empty.  The  husband  was  gone,  the 
children  were  orphaned,  the  sisters  sat  at  their 
sewing  machines,  with  haggard  eyes  and  hands 
that  were  incapable  of  work.  A  gloomy  silence 
reigned  in  every  cottage.  You  might  have  fan- 
cied that  there  was  a  dead  body  within. 

But  hardly  could  we  say  one  kind  word  to  the 
mother  before  the  sobs  broke  out,  and  with  them 
words  of  sorrow  and  anger,  and  magnificent  out- 
bursts of  pride. 

The  memory  of  these  heartbreaking  scenes  will 
never  leave  me. 

I  would  willingly  have  hastened  to  Antwerp, 
Tirlemont,  Aerschot,  Diest,  wherever  I  might 
have  found  them  repeated,  wherever  I  might  have 
found  sorrow  to  soothe,  tears  to  dry,  or  hearts 
to  comfort. 

But  I  could  not  do  it.  My  strength  and  my 
time  alike  failed  me. 

And  so,  dear  Brethren,  I  resolved  to  come  to 
you,  here  at  the  center  of  my  diocese  and  of  our 
country.  You  shall  become  the  missionaries  of 
my  thoughts,  you  shall  make  my  feelings  known. 

Pax  vobiscum  is  the  traditional  greeting  of  the 
bishop  —  Peace  be  with  you  —  and  so  I  bring 
you  now  a  word  of  peace. 


l82  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

But  there  can  be  no  peace  without  order,  and 
order  reposes  upon  justice  and  charity. 

We  desire  order,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that, 
from  the  first,  we  have  begged  that  no  active 
resistance  be  offered  to  the  Power  that  is  in 
occupation  of  our  country  and  that  all  its  regula- 
tions be  implicitly  obeyed,  so  long  as  they  offend 
against  neither  our  conscience  as  Christians  nor 
our  honor  as  Belgians.  But  that  Power  must 
also  desire  order,  that  is  to  say,  it  must  respect 
our  rights  and  its  own  promises. 

In  every  civilized  country  the  citizen  has  a 
right  to  work  freely.  He  has  a  right  to  his  home. 
He  has  a  right  to  refuse  his  services  to  any  but 
his  own  country. 

Regulations  which  infringe  these  rights  can  bind 
our  conscience  in  no  way. 

I  tell  you  this,  my  Brethren,  without  anger 
and  in  no  spirit  of  vengeance.  I  were  unworthy 
of  this  ring  which  the  Church  has  put  upon  my 
finger,  of  this  cross  which  she  has  placed  upon 
my  breast,  if  I  yielded  to  human  weakness  and 
hesitated  to  declare  that,  though  they  be  violated, 
rights  remain  rights,  and  that  injustice  which 
reposes  upon  force  is  none  the  less  injustice. 

There  can  be  no  order  without  justice;  none 
without  charity.  Charity  is  Union.  And  Union 
is  the  Law  of  Man,  the  law  of  the  three-fold 
domain  of  life  in  which  Nature  and  Faith  give 
him  his  being  and  his  growth,  the  Family,  the 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  183 

Country,  and  the  Fellowship  of  all  Christian 
people. 

Every  man's  duty  is  to  his  country,  and  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  class  to  cooperate  with  the 
others  for  the  national  welfare. 

The  Christian  belongs  to  his  diocese.  To  the 
CathoHc  Church,  his  mother,  he  is  bound  through 
his  bishop  alone. 

And  it  is  on  this  account,  my  Brethren,  that 
to-day  your  bishops'  hearts  are  bleeding.  They 
have  seen  thousands  of  their  sons  dragged  be- 
yond the  reach  of  their  pastoral  care,  driven 
towards  the  unknown,  lost  sheep  without  a 
shepherd,  a  prey  to  the' dangers  of  isolation,  im- 
potent fury,  perhaps  of  despair. 

And  a  great  event  of  history  presents  itself  to 
their  memory.  When  Pope  Pius  VII  was  in 
captivity  at  Savona,  he  put  his  trust  in  his  Heav- 
enly Mother,  whom,  since  the  victory  of  Lepanto, 
Europe  had  named  "Our  Lady,  Help  of  Chris- 
tians." The  day  after  he  had  been  set  free,  the 
Holy  Father  was  constrained  to  demonstrate  his 
own  piety  and  the  gratitude  of  Christendom  by 
instituting  a  yearly  festival  to  the  glory  of  Our 
Lady  of  Help. 

We  also  offer,  through  the  mediation  of  the 
most  Holy  Virgin  Mary,  our  humble  entreaties 
to  the  Sovereign  Lord  "who  reigneth  in  the 
Heavens  and  on  whom  all  the  Kingdoms  of  the 
Earth    depend,"  to    restore    to    us    quickly    our 


184  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

captive  workers,  and  to  keep  our  homes  still  in- 
violate until  the  day  when  we  shall  all,  in  the 
peace  of  victory,  embrace  one  another  around  the 
triumphant  altar  of  our  Lady  of  Ransom. 

Courage,  then,  my  brothers  —  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  Christ.  Be  loyal  to  Belgium,  your 
Homeland. 

From  the  depths  of  my  heart  I  give  you  all  my 
paternal  blessing. 

It  may  well  be  understood  that  this  bold  and 
patriotic  address,  which  emphasizes  the  fact  that 
right  and  might  are  not  synonymous,  contributed 
greatly  to  sustain  the  admirable  courage  of  the 
people  and  to  soften  the  unmerited  sufferings  of 
the  unfortunate  victims  of  the  iniquitous  invader. 
It  could  not  prevent  the  continued  violation  of 
right  by  might.  With  a  pitiless  brutality,  which 
might  have  been  dispensed  with  in  the  execution 
of  measures  already  sufficiently  cruel,  "unem- 
ployed" and  employed  continued  to  be  torn  from 
their  families  and  deported  to  Germany. 

Wishing  to  make  one  more  effort  to  help  his 
unfortunate  fellow-countrymen,  the  Cardinal  of 
Malines  sent  another  letter  to  the  Governor- 
General  on  November  29,  denouncing  the 
arbitrary  and  inhuman  procedure  of  the  Ger- 
mans and  appealing  to  the  supreme  authorities 
of  the  empire. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  185 

Third  Letter  of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier, 

to  Governor-General  von  Bissing 

Archdiocese  of  Malines, 
Malines,  November  29,  19 16. 

Sir: 

The  letter  of  November  23  (I,  11254),  with 
which  Your  Excellency  has  honored  me,  is  a  dis- 
appointment to  me.  In  several  circles,  which  I 
had  reason  for  believing  very  well-informed,  it 
was  said  that  Your  Excellency  thought  it  a  duty 
to  protest  to  the  highest  authorities  of  the  Empire 
against  the  measures  which  you  were  compelled 
to  apply  in  Belgium.  I  therefore  expected  at 
least  a  delay  in  the  application  of  these  measures, 
while  they  were  being  subjected  to  a  further 
examination,  and  a  softening  of  the  methods 
which  accompanied  their  execution. 

But,  without  answering  a  word  to  any  of 
the  arguments  whereby  I  established  the  anti- 
juridical  and  anti-social  character  of  the  con- 
demnation of  Belgian  workmen  to  forced  labor 
and  deportation,  Your  Excellency  contents  him- 
self with  repeating  in  his  dispatch  of  November 
23  the  very  text  of  his  letter  of  October  26. 
The  two  letters  of  October  26  and  November  23 
are  indeed  identical  in  substance  and  almost 
identical  in  form. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  recruiting  of  so-called 
"unemployed"  is  progressing  for  the  most  part 
without  any  regard  for  the  opinions  of  the  local 


l86  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

authorities.  Several  reports  in  my  possession 
prove  that  the  clergy  are  brutally  set  aside,  and 
the  burgomasters  and  communal  councillors  re- 
duced to  silence.  The  recruiting  agents  thus 
find  themselves  confronted  with  men  of  whom  they 
know  nothing,  and  arbitrarily  make  their  choice. 

Of  such  procedure  there  are  abundant  ex- 
amples. I  shall  quote  two  very  recent  instances 
from  the  number  which  I  hold  at  the  disposal  of 
Your  Excellency. 

On  November  21  the  recruiting  was  held  in 
the  commune  of  Kesbeek-Miscom.  Of  the  1325 
inhabitants  in  the  commune,  the  recruiters  took 
away  94  en  bloc,  making  no  distinction  of  social 
condition  or  profession;  farmers'  sons,  sole  sup- 
port of  aged  and  infirm  parents,  fathers  whose 
departure  left  their  wives  and  children  in  misery 
—  all  as  necessary  for  their  families  as  their 
daily  bread.  Two  families  were  robbed  at  once 
of  four  sons  each.  Of  the  ninety-four  deported 
only  two  were  "unemployed." 

The  recruiting  in  the  district  of  Aerschot  took 
place  on  November  23.  At  Rillaer,  Gelrode,  and 
Rotselaer,  some  young  men  who  were  sole  sup- 
porters of  widowed  mothers  were  recruited. 
Farmers  who  were  fathers  of  large  families  (one 
farmer,  over  fifty  years  of  age,  had  ten  children), 
cultivated  their  own  land,  possessed  several  head 
of  cattle,  and  had  never  touched  a  cent  of  public 
charity,  were  also  forcibly  deported  in  spite  of 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  187 

their  protests.  Twenty-five  young  lads  of  seventeen 
years  were  taken  in  the  Httle  commune  of  Rillaer. 

Your  Excellency  would  have  liked  the  com- 
munal authorities  to  become  accomplices  in  these 
odious  recruitings.  By  reason  of  their  legal 
position  and  in  conscience  they  could  not  do  so. 
But  they  could  enlighten  the  recruiting  agencies, 
and  are  well  qualified  to  do  that.  The  priests, 
who  know  the  poorer  people  better  than  anyone 
else  does,  would  be  of  valuable  assistance  to  the  re- 
cruiting parties.  Why  is  their  cooperation  spurned  ? 

At  the  end  of  your  letter.  Your  Excellency  re- 
marks that  men  belonging  to  the  liberal  profes- 
sions are  not  disturbed.  If  only  the  "  unemployed  " 
were  being  led  away,  I  should  understand  this 
distinction.  But  if  the  practice  is  continued  by 
enrolling  able-bodied  men  without  exception,  the 
distinction  is  unjustifiable.  It  would  be  wrong 
to  have  the  burden  of  deportation  fall  on  the 
working  class  alone.  The  middle  class  should 
have  its  share  in  the  sacrifice  imposed  by  the 
occupying  Power  on  the  nation,  however  cruel 
this  sacrifice  may  be;  in  fact,  it  is  all  the  more 
just  for  them  to  share  in  the  sacrifice,  when  this 
is  cruel.  Numbers  of  my  clergy  have  asked  me 
to  claim  for  them  a  place  in  the  vanguard  of  the 
persecuted  ones.  I  register  their  offer,  and  am 
proud  to  submit  it  to  you.  I  am  loath  to  believe 
that  the  authorities  of  the  Empire  have  spoken 
their  last  words.     They  will  think  of  our  unde- 


I  88  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

served  sorrows,  of  the  reprobation  of  the  civiHzed 
world,  of  the  judgment  of  history  and  the  chas- 
tisement of  God. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 
(Signed)  D.  J.  Cardinal  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  Malines 

His  Excellency,  Baron  von  Bissing, 
Governor-General,  Brussels. 

Vain  were  all  efforts,  alas! 

And  Cardinal  Mercier  —  the  glory  of  the  valiant 
Belgian  episcopate,  one  of  the  outstanding  figures 
of  the  world,  grander  and  more  admired  in  pro- 
portion as  his  sorrows  increase  —  goes  from  town 
to  town,  and  village  to  village,  consoling  the  old 
men,  the  women  and  the  children,  who  are  suffer- 
ing for  justice'  sake. 

How  long  will  justice  and  right  continue  to  be 
thus  despised  and  violated  with  impunity? 

Instructions  of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  Mercier,  to 
the  Clergy  of  his  Diocese 

His  visits  to  several  hundred  families  of  the 
deported  workmen,  and  the  reports  of  his  clergy 
on  the  frequently  brutal  manner  in  which  the 
deportation  orders  were  executed,  inspired  the 
Cardinal  of  Mahnes  to  issue  instructions  on 
the  matter  to  the  pastors  of  his  diocese.  Failing 
in  his  noble  efforts  to  make  his  sentiments  of 
justice,  right,  humanity,   and  compassion  prevail 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  189 

with  an  invader  who  dreamt  only  of  force  and 
power,  Cardinal  Mercier,  heartbroken  at  the 
sufferings  and  misfortunes  of  his  flock,  wished  to 
mitigate  the  evil  which  he  felt  powerless  to  pre- 
vent. He  would  fain  have  dried  all  their  tears, 
consoled  every  troubled  soul,  reminded  these 
sorely  tried  families  —  which  yet  did  not  waver 
in  their  allegiance  to  country  and  king  —  of  the 
sublimity  of  their  patriotic  endurance.  He  found 
food  for  the  children  who  came  to  school  without 
breakfast,  and  for  the  old  men  who  relinquished 
their  meal  to  give  a  morsel  of  bread  to  their 
grandchildren.  Like  his  Divine  Master,  he  would 
fain  have  sacrificed  himself  completely  for  all, 
through  love  of  his  people  and  admiration  for  the 
heroic  virtues  which  this  people  had  never  ceased 
to  display  for  more  than  two  years.  But,  as  "his 
strength  and  his  time  could  not  keep  pace  with 
his  good-will,"  he  addressed  himself  to  his  priests 
and,  through  them,  to  all  men  of  good-will,  asking 
them  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  suff^ering. 

On  December  19,  1916,  His  Eminence  sent  the 
following  instructions  to  the  pastors  of  his  diocese. 

Malines,  December  19,  1916. 

My  dear  Pastors  and  Assistants: 

Despite  the  protests  addressed  to  Germany  by 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff  and  several  neutral  States, 
the  deportation  of  our  civil  population  has  not 
ceased. 


190  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

It  is  our  duty  to  mitigate,  as  much  as  we  can, 
an  evil  which  we  are  powerless  to  prevent. 

WHEN   THE    DEPORTATION    IS    ANNOUNCED 

1.  As  soon  as  the  notice  of  the  convocation 
has  been  posted  in  your  commune,  please  warn 
the  persons  who  are  not  dependent  on  public 
assistance  that  they  must  provide  themselves  with 
a  receipt  of  their  taxes,  and  attach  to  it  a  cer- 
tificate of  the  communal  authority.  The  sick 
and  delicate  will  ask  their  physicians  to  issue  to 
them  a  certificate  of  ill-health,  and  the  workmen, 
who  are  not  "unemployed,"  will  procure  from  their 
employers  a  certificate  of  service,  which  will  be 
countersigned  by  the  burgomaster. 

2.  In  conjunction  with  the  influential  people 
of  your  parish,  pay  special  attention  to  the  in- 
terests of  your  parishioners  who,  according  to  the 
instructions  of  the  German  authorities  themselves, 
cannot  be  deported.  Then,  act  in  concert  with 
the  communal  authorities,  with  the  Comite  de 
Secours  et  d' Alimentation^  with  your  wealthy 
parishioners  and  devoted  women,  with  a  view  to 
supplying  the  necessary  clothes  and  assistance  for 
the  indigent  whose  departure  is  probable. 

ON   THE    EVE    OF   THE   DEPARTURE 

On  the  eve  of  their  departure,  or  the  preceding 
day,  urge  the  enrolled  men  to  go  to  confession. 
Several  of  you  should  place  yourselves  at  their 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I9I 

disposal.  Celebrate  a  Mass  for  their  intentions 
and  invite  their  children,  grandchildren,  and  other 
adults  to  be  present.  The  fact  that  they  received 
Holy  Communion  in  union  with  their  whole 
family  will  be  a  comfort  and  happy  memory  for 
them  in  their  exile.  In  a  practical  instruction, 
exhort  them  to  remain  true  to  their  faith  and 
to  their  moral  and  religious  practices  during  the 
period  of  their  absence.  Family  prayers  should 
be  said  for  them.  Give  the  departing  men  a 
souvenir  —  beads,  a  scapular,  or  a  New  Testament. 

ON  THE  DAY  AFTER  THE  DEPARTURE 

I.  Issue  an  appeal  to  a  selected  number  of 
charitable  parishioners.  Get  into  communica- 
tion with  the  branches  of  the  Society  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  the  Association  of  the  Ladies  of 
Mercy,  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  the  Sodal- 
ities, confraternities  and  the  various  charitable 
societies  affiliated  with  the  Diocesan  Federation 
of  Catholic  Women,  of  which  Father  Halflants 
is  director.  With  their  assistance  and  under 
the  direction  of  the  pastor  or  his  delegate,  form 
a  "committee  of  moral  aid"  to  visit  the  bereaved 
families,  console  them,  and  give  them  advice  and 
assistance.  Help  them  morally,  and,  if  there  is 
need,  help  them  materially.  The  Christian 
parish  forms  one  family.  When  one  member  of 
a  family  suffers,  the  other  members  suffer  with 
him;  when  the  family  is  in  affluence,  each  shares 


192  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

in  it.  In  the  same  way  there  should  not  be  in 
the  parish  a  single  neglected,  unknown,  or  for- 
gotten household.  And,  if  this  obligation  obtains 
in  normal  times,  it  is  imperious  in  these  days  of 
distress.  Persons  who  have  leisure  should  place 
themselves  a^t  the  disposal  of  persons  who  have 
not.  Whatever  some  have  in  superabundance, 
should  supply  the  necessity  of  others.  Mutual 
aid,  thus  understood  and  practiced,  is  only  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Christian  law.  "Bear  ye  one 
another's  burdens,"  says  St.  Paul,  "and  so  you 
shall  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ."  ^ 

Pastors  who  need  assistance  in  the  discharge  of 
their  ministry  of  charity,  may  come  and  ask  it 
from  me,  or  send  someone  on  their  behalf.  I 
should  be  grateful  to  them  if  they  would  in  such 
cases  state  as  exactly  as  possible  the  amount  of 
assistance  they  expect. 

2.  We  may  not  neglect  any  means  of  securing 
the  repatriation  of  those  who,  according  to  the 
declarations  of  the  German  Government,  should 
have  escaped  deportation.  A  bureau  of  claims 
has  been  organized  for  this  object  in  our  episcopal 
offices. 

The  pastors  are  requested  to  fill  in  the  attached 
forms,  in  triplicate.  Extra  copies  will  be  sent 
upon  request.  The  filled-in  forms  will  be  col- 
lected in  the  various  deaneries,  and  thence  sent 
as  rapidly  as  possible  to  the  archiepiscopal  offices. 

^  Galatians  vi.  2. 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I93 

The  deans  will  kindly  communicate  the  above 
instructions  to  their  colleagues. 

You  will  remind  them  again  of  our  request  of 
August  14,  1914,  that  they  should  say  Mass  each 
week  for  our  soldiers  who  have  fallen  on  the  field 
of  honor.  Charity  commands  us  to  pray  and  to 
make  others  pray  for  them. 

This  will  be  the  moment  also  to  rekindle  piety 
and  the  spirit  of  penance  and  sacrifice  among  your 
parishioners.  Let  them  offer  their  good  works 
for  the  intention  of  all  who  are  in  distress  or 
grief:  for  our  soldiers,  the  wounded,  the  absent, 
the  refugees  of  to-day  or  exiles  of  to-morrow;  for 
the  intention  of  our  King  and  his  Government, 
for  the  intention  of  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope, 
and  I  confidently  add,  as  I  do  at  the  end  of 
the  ceremonies  of  ordination:  "Pray  also  to  the 
Almighty  God  for  me." 

Accept,  dear  pastors  and  assistants,  the  as- 
surance of  my  affectionate  devotion  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Holy  See  and  the  Deportations 

Cardinal  Mercier  forwarded  to  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  several  documents  dealing  with  the  de- 
portations of  Belgians  to  Germany.  On  receiving 
the  answer  of  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State, 
he  sent  it  to  the  pastors  of  his  diocese  with  the 
request  that  they  should  read  it  to  the  faithful: 
"You  will  gratefully  welcome  the  enclosed  letter 


194  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

which  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  has  sent 
us,  on  behalf  of  the  Holy  Father.  Kindly  read 
this  letter  to  the  faithful."  The  letter  is  written 
in  ItaHan.     The  translation  is  as  follows: 

Secretariate  of  State 
OF  His  Holiness 
No.  23026 
Vatican,  November  29,  19 16. 

Your  Eminence: 

The  Holy  Father  has  received  Your  Emi- 
nence's letter  of  the  12th  inst.  and  the  en- 
closed documents  concerning  the  deportation  of 
Belgians  to  Germany. 

The  venerable  Pontiff,  in  whose  paternal  heart 
all  the  sorrows  of  his  beloved  Belgian  people  find 
an  echo,  has  ordered  me  to  announce  to  Your 
Eminence  that  he  is  keenly  interesting  himself 
in  your  harshly  tried  people,  that  he  has  already 
addressed  himself  to  the  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment in  their  favor,  and  that  he  will  do  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  secure  that  an  end  be  put 
to  the  deportations,  and  that  these  who  have 
already  been  deported  far  from  their  native  land, 
may  soon  return  to  the  bosom  of  their  afflicted 
families. 

His  Holiness  has  also  entrusted  to  me  the  agree- 
able duty  of  transmitting  a  very  special  bless- 
ing to  Your  Eminence  and  the  faithful  of  your 
diocese. 

I  am  also  glad  of  this  opportunity  of  expressing 


BELGIUM    ENSLAVED  I95 

to  Your  Eminence  the  sentiments  of  deep  venera- 
tion with  which  I  humbly  salute  you. 

Your  Eminence's  humble  and  devoted  servant, 
{Signed)  P.  Cardinal  Gasparri 

The  intercession  of  Pope  Benedict  XV  with 
the  German  Government  has  not  been  crowned 
with  success.  The  Belgian  Government  reports 
that  the  deportations  continue  and  that  only  the 
sick  are  returned  to  their  homes.  However, 
speaking  in  his  address  to  the  Consistory  on 
December  4,  1916,  of  the  violations  of  the  rights 
of  nations  which  have  taken  place  during  the 
war,  the  Holy  Father  believed  it  his  duty  to  insist 
especially  on  the  horrors  of  the  deportations. 

We  quote  here  the  passage  from  the  Consistorial 
Address  which  deals  with  this  subject: 

"Wherever  the  authority  of  the  laws  is  neg- 
lected or  scorned,  discord  and  the  passions  reign, 
and  trouble  invades  public  and  private  affairs. 
If  this  truth  needed  confirmation,  it  would  find 
it  in  the  present  course  of  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

"Does  not  the  horrible  folly  of  this  war  which 
ravages  Europe,  cry  out  in  evidence  of  what 
ruin  and  disaster  may  result  from  the  scorn  of 
the  sovereign  laws  which  govern  the  relations 
between  States?  In  this  great  conflict  of  nations 
we  see  the  unworthy  treatment  meted  out  to 
sacred  things  and  the  ministers  of  God  (even 
those  of  elevated   rank),   in   spite   of  the  sacred 


196  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

character  they  possess  in  virtue  of  divine  right 
and  the  law  of  nations.  Large  numbers  of  peace- 
able citizens  are  torn  from  their  hearths  and 
conducted  away  amid  the  tears  of  their  mothers, 
their  wives,  and  their  children.  Unfortified  towns 
and  defenseless  multitudes  are  the  victims  of 
air  raids.  Alike  on  sea  and  on  land,  such  crimes 
are  perpetrated  as  fill  one's  soul  with  sadness  and 
horror. 

"We  deplore  this  accumulation  of  evils,  and 
again  condemn  all  the  iniquities  committed  in 
this  war,  whatever  be  the  theater  and  whoever 
the  authors." 


VII 
COURAGE,  Mr  BRETHREN! 


VII 

COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN! 

sexagesima  sunday,  i917 

feast  of  the  apparition  of  our  lady  of  lourdes 
i.    moral  grandeur  of  the  nation 

My  Beloved  Brethren 

IS  it  indeed  necessary  to  preach  courage  to  you? 
And  when  I  say  "you,"  I  am  thinking  more 
immediately  of  the  faithful  companions  of  our 
misfortunes,  but  my  thoughts  go  out  also  beyond 
our  occupied  provinces  to  our  refugees,  our 
prisoners,  our  deported  fellow-countrymen,  and 
our  soldiers. 

Brethren  of  our  armies  of  Liege,  Haelen,  Ant- 
werp, the  Yser  and  Ypres,  the  Cameroons  and 
East  Africa,  it  is  you  who  are  our  foremost  pur- 
veyors of  energy.  On  August  2,  1914,  you 
sprang  up  from  the  bosom  of  all  the  families  of 
our  national  aristocracy  with  splendid  ardor,  at- 
testing to  the  world  at  large  that  the  nobility  has 
preserved  its  traditional  significance  in  Belgium; 
the  middle  classes,  the  bulwarks  of  the  nation, 
ranged  themselves  beside  you;  a  modest  employe 
of  our  city  of  M alines  has  six  sons  at  the  front; 

199 


200  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

the  working  classes,  too,  furnished  their  con- 
tingent of  voluntary  recruits,  all  the  more  praise- 
worthy since  their  departure  made  a  painful 
void  in  the  home;  military  chaplains  and  stretcher- 
bearers  have  gladly  offered  and  lavished  their 
devotion;  the  Government,  after  two  years  and 
six  months  of  trial,  is  still  in  harness,  with  a 
courage  that  nothing  can  weaken;  our  good  wishes 
follow  in  the  wake  of  these  valiant  men;  all  form 
a  guard  of  honor,  proud  and  faithful,  for  our 
magnanimous  Sovereign,  who,  from  the  sand- 
bank which  is  now  all  his  kingdom,  gives  to  Bel- 
gium and  to  the  whole  world  a  perfect  example  of 
endurance  and  of  faith  in  the  future. 

Those  who  are  fighting  for  the  liberty  of  the 
Belgian  flag  are  brave  men.  Those  interned  in 
Holland  and  Germany,  who  raise  their  fettered 
hands  to  Heaven  on  behalf  of  their  country,  are 
brave  men.  Our  exiled  compatriots,  who  bear  in 
silence  the  weight  of  their  isolation,  also  serve 
their  Belgian  fatherland  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  as  do  also  all  those  souls  who,  either 
behind  the  cloister-walls  or  in  the  retirement  of 
their  own  homes,  pray,  toil,  and  weep,  awaiting 
the  return  of  their  absent  ones,  and  our  common 
deliverance. 

We  have  listened  to  the  mighty  voices  of  wives 
and  mothers;  through  their  tears  they  have 
prayed  God  to  sustain  the  courage  and  fideUty 
to  honor  of  their  husbands  and  sons,  carried  off 


COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN!       201 

by  force  to  the  enemy's  factories.  These  gallant 
men  have  been  heard  at  the  hour  of  departure, 
rallying  their  energy  to  instil  courage  into  their 
comrades,  or,  by  a  supreme  effort,  to  chant  the 
national  hymn;  we  have  seen  some  of  them  on 
their  return,  pale,  haggard  human  wrecks;  as 
our  tearful  eyes  sought  their  dim  eyes  we  bowed 
reverently  before  them,  for  all  unconsciously  they 
were  revealing  to  us  a  new  and  unexpected  aspect 
of  national  heroism. 

After  this,  can  it  be  necessary  to  preach  courage 
to  you  ? 

True,  there  are  some  shadows  in  the  picture 
I  have  sketched  for  you;  there  have  been  weak- 
nesses here  and  there  among  our  people  for  which 
we  must  blush;  I  am  not  referring,  be  it  clearly 
understood,  to  the  handful  of  workmen,  exhausted 
by  privation,  stiff  with  cold,  or  crushed  by  blows, 
who  at  last  gave  utterance  to  a  word  of  submis- 
sion; there  are  limits  to  human  energy.  I  refer, 
with  deep  regret,  to  the  few  malefactors  who  lend 
themselves  to  the  lucrative  parts  of  informer, 
courtier,  or  spy,  and  to  those  misguided  individuals 
who  are  not  ashamed  to  trade  upon  the  poverty 
of  their  compatriots.  Happily,  when  future 
generations  look  back  from  the  more  distant 
standpoint  of  History,  these  blots  will  die  out, 
and  all  that  will  remain  for  their  edification  will 
be  the  splendid  spectacle  of  a  nation  of  seven 
millions,   which,   on   the    evening    of   August    2, 


202  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

with  one  accord  not  only  refused  to  allow  its 
honor  to  be  held  in  question  for  a  moment,  but 
which,  throughout  over  thirty  months  of  ever- 
increasing  moral  and  physical  suffering,  on  bat- 
tlefields, in  military  and  civil  prisons,  in  exile, 
under  an  iron  domination,  has  remained  imper- 
turbable in  its  self-control,  and  has  never  once 
so  far  yielded  as  to  cry:  This  is  too  much!  This 
is  enough! 

In  our  young  days  our  professors  of  history 
rightly  held  up  to  our  admiration  Leonidas  and 
the  three  hundred  Spartans,  who,  instead  of  seek- 
ing safety  in  easy  flight,  allowed  themselves  to 
be  crushed  by  the  Persian  army  at  the  Pass  of 
Thermopylae.  They  filled  us  with  enthusiasm  for 
the  six  hundred  heroes  of  Franchimont,  who, 
after  risking  life  and  liberty  by  passing  through 
the  camp  of  the  armies  of  Louis  XI  and  Charles 
the  Bold  at  night,  all  fell  in  an  assault  of  almost 
frenzied  valor  and  desperate  resistance.  The 
teachers  of  the  Belgian  generation  of  to-morrow 
will  have  yet  other  instances  of  military  heroism 
and  patriotism  to  evoke.  And  may  we  not  hope 
that  our  generation,  too,  will  preserve  the  mem- 
ory of  the  union  it  has  now  fashioned,  and  that 
in  future  there  will  be  among  us  all  a  deeper  wish 
for  national  unity,  less  personal  acrimony  in  the 
conflict  of  ideas,  a  less  grudging  respect  for  civil 
and  religious  authority,  in  a  word,  a  more  general 
fidelity,  both  before  pubhc  opinion  and  in  the 


COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN!       203 

secret  recesses  of  the  soul,  to  our  motto:  "Union 
is  strength,"  an  echo  of  the  words  of  Christ: 
"  Ut  omnes  unum  sint,  —  that  they  all  may  be 
one."  1 

II.     CHRISTIAN  GREATNESS 

Nevertheless,  my  Brethren,  we  must  rise  still 
higher. 

True,  the  natural  moral  virtues  are  worthy  of 
all  admiration,  and  he  who  should  refuse  them 
such  admiration  would  be  fatuous  indeed. 

At  various  periods  of  unrest  there  have  been 
arrogant  minds  which  have  despised  human  na- 
ture, its  resources  and  its  achievements.  But 
Christ  and  the  Church  honor  it.  Our  Saviour 
came  not  to  destroy  nature,  but  to  correct  its 
aberrations,  and  to  raise  it  to  a  higher  level. 

Did  not  Greece  give  the  world  thinkers  of 
genius?  Is  not  the  wisdom  of  ancient  Rome  pro- 
verbial? Did  not  pagan  art  produce  master- 
pieces which  Christian  generations  have  never 
wearied  of  admiring  and  copying?  The  great 
Popes  Leo  XIII  and  Pius  X  protected  classic 
literature  against  those  who  wished  to  abolish 
it  in  Christian  education;  and  in  one  of  his 
masterly  Encyclicals,  Leo  XIII  expressly  en- 
joined Catholic  philosophers  to  profit  by  the 
thought  and  science  of  others,  no  matter  where 
they  found  them. 

^  John  xvii.  21. 


204  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Intelligence  is  no  more  exclusively  Christian 
than  are  physical  health,  capacity  for  work, 
initiative,  energy,  or  wealth.  These  gifts  of 
nature  are  not  even  bound  up  with  virtue.  God, 
says  the  Gospel,  maketh  His  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the 
just  and  on  the  unjust.^ 

As  to  moral  virtue  —  bravery,  for  instance,  con- 
stancy, philanthropy,  patriotism  in  its  multiple 
forms  —  you  must  greet  it  with  gratitude  and 
respect  wherever  you  find  it.  Christianity  has  no 
monopoly  of  it.  Nature  is  not  incapable  of  it, 
and  moreover,  the  supernatural  graces  are  not 
exclusively  reserved  for  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  It  is  well  to  be  proud  of  your  faith,  but 
do  not  imitate  the  Pharisee  who  boasted  that  he 
was  not  like  other  men,  and  looked  down  upon 
the  poor  publican  on  whom  the  God  of  mercy 
took  pity.  "Finally,  brethren,"  says  St,  Paul, 
"whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  modest, 
whatsoever  just,  whatsoever  holy,  whatsoever 
lovely,  whatsoever  of  good  fame,  think  on  [ap- 
preciate] these  things."  ^  "Loving  one  another," 
he  says  elsewhere,  "with  honor  preventing  one 
another,  diligentes  honore  invicem  prcBvenientes;"  ^ 
better  still,  be  humble  enough  to  think  your  neigh- 
bor superior  to  yourself;    you  will  become  con- 

^  Matthew  v.  45. 

2  Philippians  iv.  8. 

3  Romans  xii.  10. 


COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN!       205 

vinced  of  this,  if,  instead  of  taking  pleasure  in 
what  is  good  in  yourself,  you  endeavor  to  look 
at  what  is  good  in  others:  in  humilitate  superiores 
sibi  invicem  arbitrantes,  non  qucB  sua  sunt  smguli 
consider  antes  i  sed  <?«,  quce  aliorum.  In  humility  let 
all  esteem  others  better  than  themselves.  Each 
one  not  considering  the  things  that  are  his  own, 
but  those  that  are  other  men's. ^ 

Nevertheless,  my  Brethren,  when  virtue  is  not 
inspired  by  Christian  charity,  it  lacks  its  chief 
element.  It  is  not  enough,  in  short,  to  do  good; 
we  must  do  good  aright;  now  we  can  only  do  it 
aright  when  we  have  brought  it  to  a  degree  of 
perfection  which  makes  it  deserving  of  eternal 
life.  St.  Augustine  devoted  the  greater  part  of 
his  dogmatic  and  polemical  writings  to  establish- 
ing, as  against  the  rationalists  of  his  day.  Pelagians 
or  semi-Pelagians,  this  fundamental  truth:  that 
only  works  inspired  by  charity,  that  is  to  say,  by 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  love  of  one's  neighbor  in 
the  sight  of  God,  have  power  to  open  the  gates  of 
Paradise  to  us.  The  holy  doctor  would  not  per- 
mit an  act  of  mere  natural  goodness  to  be  quali- 
fied without  reservation  as  "virtuous."  "To 
sum  up,"  he  wrote,  "virtue  is  identical  with 
charity,  and  consists  in  loving  what  we  ought 
to  love."  Virtus  est  charitaSy  qua  id  quod  dili- 
gendum  est,  diligitur? 

^  Philippians  ii.  3,  4. 

2  Epist.  ad  S.  Hieron.  167a  ed.  Vives. 


206  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

Indeed,  did  not  our  Lord  Himself  declare  and 
insist  that  all  the  commandments  of  God  are 
comprised  in  the  law  of  love?  And  does  not  St. 
Paul  say  that  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  lav/, 
plenitudo  ergo  legis  est  dilectio?  ^ 

Christianity  has  not  transformed  moral  great- 
ness, but  it  has  ameliorated,  completed,  and 
raised  it  to  that  supreme  height  where  it  is  in 
immediate  contact  with  God.  The  soul  which 
possesses  charity  lives  the  divine  life.  God  lives 
in  it,  and  it  in  God.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  living 
bond  between  it  and  the  Holy  Trinity.  Thence- 
forth, the  natural  worship  of  morality  and  of 
religion  cannot  suffice;  God  no  longer  accepts  it. 
It  is  through  Christ,  who  sheds  the  effusions  of 
His  life  supernaturally  into  our  souls,  it  is  with 
Christ  and  in  Christ  —  per  Ipsum  et  cum  Ipso, 
et  in  Ipso  —  that  all  honor  and  glory  must  rise 
towards  God  the  Father  Almighty  in  the  unity 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  ever,  in  time  and  in  eternity: 
Per  Ipsum  et  cum  Ipso  et  in  Ipso,  est  tihi  Deo  Patri 
Omnipotenti,  in  unitate  Spiritus  Sancti,  omnis 
honor  et  gloria,  per  omnia  saecula  saeculorum? 

How  sad  it  would  be,  my  Brethren,  to  think 
that  the  sufferings  endured  for  nearly  three  years 
by  millions  of  immortal  souls,  would,  perhaps  in 
a  very  considerable  number  of  cases,  be  lost  to 
eternity!     The  glory  of  military  successes  is,  no 

1  Romans  xiii.  lo. 

'  End  of  the  Canon  of  the  Mass. 


COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN!       207 

doubt,  enviable;  heroism  in  patience,  privation, 
loss  of  liberty,  and  even  in  the  presence  of  death, 
is  certainly  admirable;  but  the  artificers  of  this 
glory,  those  who  engendered  this  heroism,  would 
be  greatly  to  be  pitied,  if  at  the  turning-point  of 
eternity,  suddenly  confronted  by  those  sovereign 
realities  they  had  refused  to  believe  in,  they 
should  have  to  confess,  in  despair:  Fools  that  we 
were!  We  treated  the  modest  lives  of  the  Chris- 
tians around  us  as  folly;  we  thought  they  lacked 
brilliance,  and  behold!  it  is  they  who  now  take 
place  among  the  children  of  God  and  in  the  tri- 
umphant assembly  of  saints.  We  were  deceived 
then.  We  did  not  follow  the  way  of  truth,  our 
eyes  did  not  recognize  the  light  of  justice,  the 
sun  of  intelligence  did  not  shine  upon  us.  Nos 
insensati,  vitam  illorum  aestimahamus  insaniam,  et 
finem  illorum  sine  honore.  Ecce  quomodo  computati 
sunt  inter  filios  Dei,  et  inter  sanctos  sors  illorum 
est.  Ergo  erravimus  a  via  veritatis,  et  justitiae 
lumen  nan  luxit  nobis,  et  sol  intelligentiae  7ion  est 
ortus  nobis} 

Those  who  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  barrier 
of  Time,  our  dead  of  yesterday,  of  past  centuries, 
would  gladly  send  us  a  messenger  charged  to 
tell  us  what  the  rich  man  of  the  parable  desired 
to  tell  his  brethren:  You  have  still  a  span  of  life 
before  you;  you  are  within  reach  of  the  confes- 
sional,  where   the   divine   Saviour   of  the  world 

^  Wisdom  V.  4-6. 


208  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

remits  sins  by  the  ministry  of  His  priests,  of  your 
parish  church,  where  you  can  so  easily  go  to  pray, 
and  to  ask  our  Lord  in  His  tabernacle,  and  His 
Mother,  the  refuge  of  sinners,  the  Mother  of 
divine  grace,  the  almighty  mediator  for  humanity, 
to  grant  you  the  grace  of  conversion  or  of  per- 
severance; I  entreat  you,  in  the  name  of  your 
dearest  interests,  in  the  name  of  the  affection  you 
bear  me,  in  the  name  of  the  tears  you  shed  over 
my  lot,  in  the  name  of  the  deep  joy  we  shall  feel 
when  we  meet  again  to  part  no  more,  once  more 
I  entreat  you,  be  converted,  sanctify  yourselves, 
live  the  lives  of  Christians  and  of  saints. 

My  Brethren,  if  our  ordeal  is  prolonged,  it  is 
because  the  design  of  divine  Love  is  not  yet 
accomplished. 

The  design  of  Providence  is  a  design  of  love, 
doubt  it  not.  It  is  carrying  out  for  some  a 
work  of  justice,  for  others  a  work  of  mercy;  but 
for  all  it  is,  in  the  divine  intention,  a  work  of 
love. 

In  God,  all  attributes  are  substantially  identical. 
God  is  Omnipotence,  but  His  omnipotence  could 
not  exist  without  wisdom,  and  the  wisdom  of 
the  Almighty  is  not  separable  from  His  love.  He 
can  do  all  things.  He  knows  all  things,  but  He 
wills  only  in  love.  Theology  ascribes  Omnipotence 
to  the  Father,  Omniscience  to  the  Son,  the  Word 
of  the   Father;    and   all-embracing  Love  to  the 


COURAGE,    MY    BRETHREN!  209 

Holy  Spirit,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and 
the  Word;  but  the  works  of  creation  and  of 
Providence  have  as  their  Author  the  unique  na- 
ture of  God,  in  whom  the  three  Persons  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity  are  indissolubly  united. 

Do  not  forget  your  baptismal  faith.  Believe  in 
God.  Believe  in  love,  which  is,  in  substance,  God. 
Deus  charitas  est} 

Believe  in  the  sayings  of  the  Word:  He  came 
to  reveal  the  love  of  God  to  the  world,  and  in 
order  to  convince  us  and  bring  us  to  Him,  He 
deigned  to  carry  the  evidences  of  His  love  before 
our  eyes  and  hearts,  far  beyond  that  which  the 
most  rigorous  divine  justice  could  have  demanded 
for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  For  whereas  a 
prayer,  a  sigh,  a  tear  would  have  sufficed  for  the 
salvation  of  humanity,  our  Saviour  strove  to 
conquer  our  souls  by  every  means  that  could 
touch  and  move  us,  that  could  make  us  love 
Him,  and  pass,  by  Him,  to  the  love  of  His 
Father. 

Need  I  remind  you.  Brethren,  of  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem,  for  whom  His  parents  did  not  even 
demand  the  humblest  place  in  an  inn;  of  the 
Flight  through  the  desert  into  Egypt,  under  the 
threat  of  murderous  persecution;  of  a  childhood 
and  youth  spent  under  a  humble  roof,  in  the  ob- 
scurity of  a  workshop;  of  the  fatigues  of  a  ministry 
exposed    to   the   opposition    of   the    Scribes    and 

1  /  John  iv.  8. 


2IO  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Pharisees,  the  ingratitude  of  the  masses,  the 
obstinate  prejudices  of  the  Disciples  and  Apostles; 
finally,  of  that  last  week,  into  which,  rushing  one 
upon  the  other  like  the  waters  of  a  torrent,  were 
crowded  the  Agony  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
the  treachery  of  Judas  on  the  very  evening  of  the 
institution  of  that  Sacrament  we  so  rightly  call 
the  Sacrament  of  Love,  and  the  institution  of  the 
priesthood,  the  choice  between  Jesus  and  Barab- 
bas,  the  frenzy  of  the  crowd,  blaspheming  Him 
whom  but  yesterday  they  had  acclaimed  with 
triumphant  Hosannas,  the  scenes  in  the  Praeto- 
rium  and  in  the  court  of  Herod:  our  gentle  Lord's 
back  and  shoulders  scourged  with  rods.  His  head 
lacerated  by  the  crown  of  thorns.  His  face  defiled 
by  spittle  and  swollen  by  buffeting;  the  whole 
adorable  person  of  the  Man-God  outraged  and 
mocked,  rendered  what  the  prophetic  psalm 
describes  as  "a  reproach  of  men,  and  the  outcast 
of  the  people,"  ahjectio  plebis,^  or  as  TertuUian 
has  it,  "one  who  is  of  no  more  account,"  nulli- 
ficamen  plebis;  then  the  ascent  to  Calvary,  the 
swooning  of  the  Victim  under  the  weight  of  the 
cross;  the  desertion  by  all  the  Apostles  save 
St.  John;  the  Crucifixion;  the  Messias  exposed 
to  public  derision  between  two  thieves,  in  sight 
of  His  Mother,  a  martyr  with  Him;  all  suffer- 
ing, physical  and  moral,  heaped  upon  a  single 
head,   even  to  the  sense    of  total    abandonment 

^  Psalm  xxli.  6. 


COURAGE,    MY   BRETHREN!  211 

which  drew  from  the  dying  lips  that  sigh  of 
supreme  distress:  "My  God,  My  God,  why 
hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?  Deus  mens,  Deus  mens, 
ut  quid  dereliquisti  me!"  ^  My  Brethren,  you 
who  pass  so  often  before  the  crucifix,  pause 
for  a  moment,  "and  see  if  there  be  any  sorrow 
like  to  this  sorrow.  Fos  omnes  qui  transitis  per 
viam,  attendite  et  videte  si  est  dolor  sicut  dolor 
meus.    ^ 

"God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  His  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
may  not  perish,  but  have  life  everlasting.  Sic 
enim  Deus  dilexit  mundum,  ut  Filium  suum 
unigenitum  daret:  ut  omnis,  qui  credit  in  eum,  non 
pereat^  sed  haheat  vitam  aeternam."  ^ 

Christians,  do  you  not  hear  resounding  in  your 
souls  the  challenge  of  Jehovah  to  His  chosen 
people,  of  the  vine-dresser  to  his  vineyard:  "In- 
habitants of  Jerusalem  and  ye  men  of  Juda," 
He  says  by  the  mouth  of  the  Prophet  Isaias, 
"judge  between  me  and  my  vineyard.  What  is 
there  that  I  ought  to  do  more  to  my  vineyard 
that  I  have  not  done  to  it?  ^id  est  quod  dehui 
ultra  facer e  vineae  meae,  et  non  feci  ei?"  ^  And  do 
we  not  understand  how  the  Apostle  Paul,  about 
to  die  for  the  love  of  his  Saviour,  ventured  to  cry: 
"If  any  man  love  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  let 

1  Mark  XV.  34. 

2  Lamentations  i.  12. 
^  John  iii.  16. 

*  Isaias  v.  3. 


212  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

him  be  anathema.     Si  quis  non   amat  Dominum 
nostrum  Jesum  Christum,  sit  anathema."  ^ 

III.    CONCLUSIONS 

First  Conclusion:  Believe  in  the  divine 
love. 

My  Brethren,  you  cannot  doubt  the  love  of 
God  for  you;  you  cannot  doubt  that  all  He  does 
is  well,  that  it  is  the  work  at  once  of  His  Power, 
His  Wisdom,  His  Love,  the  work  of  Father,  Son 
and  Holy  Spirit. 

You  cannot  at  the  present  moment  understand 
the  why  and  wherefore  of  all  the  events  which 
His  Providence  ordains  or  permits;  it  is  not 
required  of  you  to  understand  them.  Is  it  sur- 
prising, I  ask  you,  that  the  finite  should  fail  to 
understand  the  infinite;  that  the  child,  Hsping  the 
first  letters  of  the  alphabet,  should  not  grasp 
the  meaning  of  the  great  Book  of  History;  that 
the  spectator  of  a  sunrise  and  a  sunset  should  not 
take  in  the  meaning  of  eternity? 

If  indeed  you  could  understand,  you  would  not 
need  to  believe;  and  it  is  God's  will  that  you 
should  believe,  that  your  faith  should  be  meritori- 
ous for  you,  and  glorious  for  Him.  The  holy 
man  Job,  whom  the  Scriptures  offer  as  a  pattern 
to  suffering  souls,  was  absolutely  right  in  refusing 
to  listen  to  his  wife  and  his  friends,  who  urged 
him  to  rebel,  on  the  pretext  that  the  trials  which 

1  /  Corinthians  xvi.  22. 


COURAGE,    MY    BRETHREN  213 

had  overwhelmed  a  faithful  servant  of  God  were 
senseless  chastisements.  "If  we  have  received 
good  things  at  the  hand  of  God,"  replied  the 
martyr,  "why  should  we  not  receive  evil?  Si 
bona  suscepimus  de  manu  Deiy  mala  quare  non 
suscipiamus?"^ 

In  other  words,  it  is  not  for  us  to  judge  whether 
a  thing  is  good  or  evil;  the  main  point  is  not  to 
know  whether  it  pleases  or  displeases  us.  Our 
point  of  view  is  too  restricted,  our  horizon  too 
limited,  our  faculty  of  judgment  too  uncertain,  to 
enable  us  to  pronounce  wisely  upon  the  bearing 
and  value  of  providential  events. 

There  is  a  much  safer  course,  the  only  truly 
safe  one,  that  is,  to  keep  our  own  place,  in  the 
humility  proper  to  our  incompetence  and  our 
inferiority,  and  to  leave  to  God  sovereign  auton- 
omy, understanding,  and  love.  The  holy  king 
David,  whose  life  was  so  full  of  trials,  was  often 
troubled  at  the  sight  of  the  insolent  prosperity  of 
his  persecutors  and  enemies;  he  poured  out  his 
doubts,  his  anguish,  and  his  grief  in  his  Psalms; 
but  Faith  triumphed  in  him,  and  finally  led  him 
to  these  outbursts  of  loving  confidence:  "What 
have  I  in  heaven?  And  besides  Thee  what  do 
I  desire  upon  earth?  For  Thee  my  flesh  and  my 
heart  hath  fainted  away.  Thou  art  the  God  of 
my  heart  and  the  God  that  is  my  portion  for 
ever.     For  behold!    they  that  go  far  from  Thee 

^  Job  iL  10. 


214  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

shall  perish  .  .  .  but  it  is  good  for  me  to  ad- 
here to  my  God;  to  put  my  hope  in  the  Lord 
God."  1 

If  you  are  tempted  to  be  sceptical,  my  Brethren, 
take  your  Psalter;  read  and  meditate  upon  a 
few  Psalms;  your  faith  will  revive,  and  almost 
involuntarily,  you  will  begin  to  pray. 

Second  Conclusion:  Act  of  adoration,  sub- 
mission, and  love. 

Pater  Noster,  Our  Father:  My  God,  the  first 
thought  I  will  contemplate  when,  in  sorrow  as  in 
joy,  I  lift  up  my  soul  to  Thee,  is  that  Thou  art 
my  Father,  that  I  am  Thy  Child,  that  between 
Thee  and  me,  thanks  to  Thine  ineffable  con- 
descension, there  are  family  relations.  It  is  as 
a  child  with  his  father  that  I  wish  to  live  with 
Thee.  I  do  not  doubt  Thee,  any  more  than  I 
doubt  my  own  father  and  mother;  I  have  less 
confidence  in  my  own  father  and  mother  than  in 
Thee,  because  my  father  and  mother  are  often 
unable  to  give  me  the  good  things  they  would 
bestow  upon  me,  whereas,  O  my -Father  in  Heaven, 
nothing  can  resist  Thy  sovereign  will. 

Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven:  It  is  not  upon 
earth,  in  the  restricted  space  of  a  shelter  made 
by  the  hand  of  man,  that  the  family  life  of  God's 

^  i^id  enim  mihi  est  in  coelo?  Et  a  te  quid  volui  super  terrain? 
Defecit  caro  mea  et  cor  meum:  Deus  cordis  mei,  et  pars  mea  Deus  in 
aeternum.  S^uia  ecce  qui  elongant  se  a  te,  peribunt.  .  .  .  Mihi  autem 
adhaerere  Deo  bonum  est;  ponere  in  Domino  Deo  spem  meam.  Psalm 
Ixxii.  25-28. 


COURAGE,  MY  BRETHREN!       215 

children  develops.  Heaven  is  the  region  above 
matter,  above  the  reason  of  the  feeble  human 
creature;  it  is  the  spirit,  of  which  baptismal  grace 
has  made  a  temple;  it  is  the  bosom  of  the  divine 
Trinity,  where  the  Christian  soul,  transformed 
by  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity,  and  by  the  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  breathes  in  God,  believes  in 
God,  and  expands  in  God,  until  it  attains  the 
stature  allotted  to  it  by  the  design  of  eternal 
predestination. 

Hallowed  he  Thy  Name:  My  God,  Thou  art 
essential  sanctity,  and  as  such,  inaccessible  to  a 
miserable  and  sinful  creature.  Thou  art  infinitely 
above  us.  Thy  Majesty,  enthroned  in  the  holy 
temple  of  its  glory,  transcends  our  vain  eflPorts  to 
praise  and  glorify  it.  Benedictus  es  in  templo 
sanctae  gloriae  tuae,  et  superlaudahilis  et  super- 
gloriosus  in  saecula.  But  O,  unfathomable  depth 
of  divine  Love,  Mystery  which  comprises  all 
mysteries.  Thou  wast  pleased  to  bring  us  forth 
from  the  void,  to  bend  down  towards  us,  to  en- 
fold us  with  Thy  love,  to  offer  us  a  share  in  Thy 
life  and  Thy  felicity.  There  is,  however,  a  con- 
dition attached  to  this  deification  of  our  souls: 
we  must  beheve  that  Thou  lovest  us,  we  must 
have  faith  in  Christ,  the  supreme  revelation  of 
divine  Love;  we  must  believe  in  Thy  Love,  O 
Jesus,  as  the  friend  believes  in  his  friend,  the 
child  in  his  mother,  the  wife  in  her  husband.  This 
faith    is    the    highest    glorification    of   the    Holy 


2l6  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Name  of  God:  Sanctificetur  nomen  tuum.  Hal- 
lowed he  Thy  Name. 

Thy  Kingdom  come:  My  soul  is  a  temple  for 
Thee,  my  Saviour,  may  it  also  be  a  kingdom  for 
Thee!  I  am  and  will  be  Thy  subject.  Reign 
supremely  over  me.  If  I  have  sometimes  turned 
away  from  Thee,  if  I  have  even  rebelled  against 
Thee,  it  was  because  I  did  not  know  Thee.  Hap- 
pily for  me,  my  God,  Thou  art  not  estranged 
either  by  the  cowardice  or  by  the  revolts  of  my 
nature.  Thou  askest  only  my  faith,  and  a  loyal 
will  under  the  guidance  of  faith  and  the  inspira- 
tion of  Thy  love.  Lord,  I  believe,  I  would  be- 
lieve, help  Thou  mine  unbelief.^  Overcome  my 
resistance.  I  know  that  Thou  subduest  me  only  in 
order  to  love  me.  To  submit  myself  to  Thee  is 
to  make  myself  beloved  by  Thee;  it  is  to  leave 
Thee  free  to  realize  my  happiness,  even  in  spite 
of  myself.  Dispose  of  me.  Lord,  break  down  in 
me,  either  with  or  against  my  own  will,  all  obstacles 
to  the  invasion  and  the  triumph  of  Thy  Love. 

Thy  Will  he  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven: 
My  will  belongs  to  Thee,  I  sacrifice  it  to  Thee. 
What  Thou  wiliest  is  good,  always  good;  what  I 
will  may  not  be  so.  My  will  must  bow  to  Thine. 
Subdue  it,  purify  it,  transform  it.  The  saints 
and  angels  in  Heaven  see  and  acclaim  Thine 
infinite  wisdom.  I  do  not  see  it,  but  I  believe  in 
it.     I  bless  Thy  will,  past  and  present.     I  await, 

^  Mark  ix.  24. 


COURAGE,    MY    BRETHREN.'  21/ 

in  loving  confidence,  Thy  future  will.  There  is 
no  event  which  does  not  bring  us  a  message  of 
love,  an  offer  of  union,  a  pledge  of  beatitude  from 
Thee.  All  the  designs  of  Providence  are  merci- 
ful and  faithful,  as  the  Psalmist  tells  us,  but  to 
experience  this,  we  must  enter  into  the  divine 
covenant  and  desire  to  receive  its  testimonies. 
Universae  viae  Domini,  misericordia  et  Veritas  requi- 
rentibus  testamentum  ejus  et  testimonia  ejus} 

May  the  name  of  the  Lord  be  blessed  now  and 
ever!  Sit  Nomen  Domini  henedictum  ex  hoc  nunc 
et  usque  in  saeculum! 

(Signed)  D.  J.  Card.  Mercier 

Archbishop  of  M alines 

^  Psalm  xxiv.  lo. 


VIII 
CHRISTIAN  VENGEANCE 


VIII 
CHRISTIAN   VENGEANCE 

Address  delivered  to  the  Deans,  during  their 
Annual  Reunion  at  the  Archiepiscopal 
Residence,  on  January  29,  191 7.  {Feast  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales.) 

Reverend  and  dear  Deans: 

IT  has  occurred  to  me  that,  during  the  troublous 
epoch  through  which  we  are  passing,  no  day 
was  more  propitious  for  an  exchange  of  views  and 
sentiments  with  my  closest  fellow-workers  than 
the  feast  of  the  great  bishop,  St,  Francis  de 
Sales,  whose  character  and  teachings  trace  so 
luminous  a  path  of  Christian  spirituality  and 
pastoral  action. 

Monsignor  de  Segur  recalls  the  fact  that,  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  every  Doctor  of  the  Church 
had  his  surname:  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  was  known 
as  Doctor  Angelicus;  St.  Bonaventure  as  Doctor 
Seraphicus;  Duns  Scotus  as  Doctor  Suhtilis. 
And,  he  adds,  Pius  IX  is  said  to  have  declared 
that,  if  the  great  Bishop  of  Geneva  should  one 
day  be  ranked  by  the  Church  among  her  Doctors, 
we  should  have  to  style  him  Doctor  Infallibilis 
(the  infallible  Doctor),  so  sure,  so  evangelic,  so 


222  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

luminous  and  so  firmly  grounded  is  his  spiritual 
doctrine.^ 

It  is  indeed  true  that  all  the  saints  whom  the 
Church  raises  to  her  altars,  have  practiced  virtue 
to  an  heroic  degree,  and  that  she  offers  them  all 
for  our  imitation.  Each  has,  nevertheless,  his 
individual  features;  in  each  we  behold,  as  it 
were  in  greater  relief  than  in  the  others,  one  of 
the  traits  of  the  Sacred  Face  of  Our  Saviour, 
inimitable  as  these  traits  are  in  their  supreme 
ideahty.  The  practice  of  meditating  on  the 
saints  thus  prepares  our  eyes  for  the  con- 
templation of  the  human-divine  countenance  of 
Christ. 

St.  Francis  lived,  labored,  and  spent  himself  in 
an  age  when  the  pagan  renaissance  and  nascent 
Protestantism  agitated  mankind  (i 567-1622).  His 
labors,  his  worries,  and  his  combats  remind  us  of 
St.  Paul,  St.  Athanasius,  or  St.  Augustine.  Con- 
sequently, no  better  model  could  be  chosen  for 
our  contemplation.  Whether  we  regard  his  moral 
character  or  even  his  physical  appearance  —  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  portraits  we  possess  of 
him  —  the  contemplation  of  the  Saint  will  bring 
us  enlightenment  and  encouragement. 

Examine  more  closely,  my  dear  Colleagues, 
this  noble  countenance.  An  old  fellow-worker 
and   university  friend   of  mine,  the  late   and   so 

1  Chaumont,  "Directions  spirituelles  de  S.  Franfois  de  Sales: 
La  SouflFrance.     Preface  de  Mgr.  de  Segur." 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  223 

beloved  Monsignor  Cartuyvels,  had  a  favorite 
saying  that  at  forty  a  man  is  responsible  for  his 
countenance.  St.  Francis  de  Sales  fashioned  his 
by  almost  fifty  years  of  ceaseless  labor.  Of  an 
ardent,  and  even  choleric  temperament,  he  be- 
came a  model  of  meekness,  and  numbers  were 
accustomed  to  speak  of  him  as  "meek  St.  Francis 
de  Sales."  Let  none,  however,  fall  into  the  error 
of  believing  that  his  meekness  was  a  spontaneous 
grace  springing  from  a  soft  and  timid  nature;  it 
represented  the  victory  of  a  will  accustomed  to 
govern  the  emotions  and  to  rely  on  a  fortitude, 
or  firmness  of  soul,  which  nothing  could  dishearten 
and  nothing  overcome. 

Our  vanity  loves  to  console  itself  with  the 
idea  that  the  saints  were  formed  in  a  different 
mould  from  that  in  which  we  ourselves  were  cast. 
Nothing  could  be  more  deceptive  or  more  ener- 
vating than  this  prejudice.  "No,  no,"  says  St. 
Ambrose,  "let  us  convince  ourselves  of  this: 
the  saints  were  not  of  a  nature  superior  to  ours; 
they  were  more  generous  than  we,  and  therein 
lies  the  explanation;  they  were  not  free  from 
evil  passions,  but  they  applied  themselves  to  the 
task  of  conquering  them."  ^ 

The  fortitude,  or  strength  of  soul,  displayed  by 
the  saintly  Bishop  of  Geneva  sprang  from  his 
charity.  He  cultivated  an  overflowing  affection 
for    all    his    brethren,    and    especially    for    those 

^  St.  Ambrose,  "De  Joseph  Patriarcha,"  cap.  i,  in  P.  L.  XIV,  643. 


224  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

towards  whom  he  felt  naturally  least  attracted. 
"He  made  himself  all  things  to  all  men  so  as  to 
save  souls,"  says  the  Collect  in  the  Mass  and  the 
liturgical  office  of  his  feast  day:  "0  God,  who  didst 
will  that  blessed  Francis  should  become  all 
things  to  all  men  for  the  salvation  of  souls  .  .  ., 
graciously  grant  that  through  the  sweetness 
of  Thy  charity  we  may  attain  everlasting 
bliss." 

And,  in  this  chosen  soul,  these  three  different 
virtues  were  fused  in  so  sweet  a  harmony  —  they 
were  poised  in  such  perfect  equilibrium  —  that 
they  convey  an  impression  of  repose,  of  order, 
and  of  serenity  to  all  who  consider  the  countenance 
of  the  saint. 

Let  us  apply  to  ourselves,  my  very  dear  Col- 
leagues, the  advice  of  this  holy  Bishop.  "Read," 
he  says,^  "the  stories  and  the  lives  of  the  saints, 
in  which,  as  in  a  mirror,  you  will  behold  the 
portrait  of  the  Christian  life,  and  accommodate 
their  actions  to  your  profit  according  to  your 
vocation." 

Let  us  consider,  one  after  another,  each  of 
these  four  virtues  which  are  characteristic  of  the 
saint:  meekness,  fortitude,  charity  and  serenity. 
Let  us  study  them  with  a  view  to  adapting  them 
to  our  own  mode  of  life,  and  determine  to  draw 
inspiration  from  them  in  the  actual  practice  of 
our  ministry. 

1  "Introduction  to  a  Devout  Life,"  part  II,  chap.  XVII. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  225 

MEEKNESS 

A  large  number  of  priests,  both  pastors  and 
assistants,  are  engaged  on  the  Comites  de  Ravi- 
taillement  (committees  for  food  distribution).  This 
work  of  corporal  mercy,  which  should  win  us  the 
gratitude  of  all  whom  we  aid,  leaves  in  reality 
many  persons  discontented,  and  many  ungrate- 
ful. Be  patient,  dear  friends.  Distrust  your  natu- 
ral inclinations.  Do  not  yield  to  the  temptation 
to  say:  "If  they  treat  me  in  this  fashion,  I  am 
going  away."  Do  not  throw  the  helve  after  the 
hatchet.  What  do  you  expect?  We  must  take 
poor  humanity  just  as  it  is.  Was  it  not  our  old 
minister,  Beernaert,  who  defined  gratitude  as 
"the  remembrance  of  favors  we  hope  to  obtain." 
Disinterested  affection  is  not  common.  Do  not 
we  all  prove  this  in  our  relations  with  God.? 
Do  we  love  Him  for  His  own  sake,  as  a  rule,  or 
for  the  sake  of  ourselves? 

Let  the  ingratitude. of  our  neighbors  teach  us  to 
supernaturalize  our  intentions.  When  our  Divine 
Saviour  urges  us  to  cultivate  neighborly  charity, 
He  calls  it  a  new  commandment:  "A  new  com- 
mandment I  give  unto  you:  That  you  love  one 
another,  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  you  also  love 
one  another."  Not  indeed  that  the  love  of  one's 
neighbor  was  not  obligatory  before  the  com- 
ing of  the  Messias,  but  it  lacked  that  double 
character  of   universality    and    perfection   which 


226  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

Christian  faith  and  charity  alone  could  inspire  and 
sustain. 

After  the  example  of  Christ,  we  must  love 
everybody  without  exception.  "For  if  you  love 
them  that  love  you,  what  reward  shall  you  have? 
Do  not  even  the  publicans  this?"  ^  We  must 
imitate  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  sends  His  warm 
sun  and  beneficent  rain  to  the  evil  as  well  as  the 
good.  In  every  unfortunate  whom  you  assist  you 
must  no  longer  see  a  man  with  his  defects  and 
faihngs,  but  Christ,  of  whom  this  unfortunate  is 
a  suffering  member.  For  "as  long  as  you  did  it 
to  one  of  these  My  least  brethren,"  says  Our 
Saviour,  "you  did  it  to  Me."  ^ 

The  mercy  which  is  exercised  in  this  spirit  does 
not  stop  short  of  the  extremest  self-sacrifice,  after 
the  example  of  Christ  who  laid  down  His  life  for 
those  whom  He  loved.  "Greater  love  than  this 
no  man  hath,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  hfe  for 
his  friends."  ^  Charity  thus  understood  is  new 
in  history,  for  it  dates  from  Christ  and  His  Church. 
Make  it  your  inspiration,  my  dear  friends,  and 
you  will  be  humble  of  heart  and  meek  of  soul. 
You  will  not  be  depressed  by  disappointments; 
you  will  not  be  conceited  or  domineermg;  you 
will  not  be  prone  to  anger,  but  will  know  how  to 
suffer    all,    accept    all,    expect    all,    support    all. 

1  Matthezv  v.  46. 
^  Matthezv  xxv.  40. 
'  John  XV.  13. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  22/ 

"Charity  is  patient,  is  kind;  charity  dealeth  not 
perversely,  is  not  puffed  up;  is  not  ambitious,  is 
not  provoked  to  anger;  beareth  all  things,  be- 
lieveth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things."  ^ 

FORTITUDE 

We  must  not,  however,  confound  meekness 
with  desertion  of  duty,  nor  moderation  with  the 
surrender  of  principles.  Meekness  ^  derives  its 
sustenance  from  patience,  a  virtue  which  is  a 
component  part  of  fortitude  {fortitudo),  or  strength 
of  soul. 

In  the  Comit^s  de  Ravitaillement  and  elsewhere, 
one  may  see  members  venting  their  ill-temper  on 
their  subordinates,  or  bearing  themselves  in  an 
arrogant  manner.  One  may  also  see  members  — 
and  often  the  self-same  members  —  retire  in  a 
temper  when  confronted  with  opposition,  lapse 
into  an  angry  silence,  and  finally  resign  their 
task  and  relinquish  the  field  to  their  adversaries. 
These  members  are  lacking  in  self-control  and 
fortitude. 


^  /  Corinthians  xiii.  4-7. 

2  Meekness  is  a  virtue.  It  is  a  beatitude  (Matthew  v.  4),  that  is 
to  say,  an  act  of  virtue.  It  is  a  fruit  of  the  exercise  of  virtue  {Galatians 
V.  22).  Considered  as  a  virtue,  it  is  related  —  with  its  asso- 
ciates, humility  and  modesty  —  to  the  cardinal  virtue  of  temperance. 
Patience  is  an  auxiliary  of  meekness.  It  teaches  man  to  preserve 
equanimity  amidst  the  trials  of  life.  It  is  included  in  the  cardinal 
virtue  called  fortitude,  or  strength  of  soul. 


228  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

In  the  face  of  a  common  enemy,  good  patriots 
should  certainly  close  up  their  ranks  more  tightly 
than    ever    around    their   King    and    the    public 
authorities.     After  the  war  there  will  inevitably 
be  a  truce,  the  duration  of  which,  in  my  opinion, 
no  one  can  now  foresee,   and  during  which  the 
politicians    of    all    parties    must    combine    their 
talents  and  their  influence  for  the  resurrection  of 
our   ruins    and    the  restoration  of  public  order. 
The  anticipation  of  this  truce,  which  the  Belgian 
Government  has  already  inaugurated  in  Havre  by 
admitting  into  its  bosom  the  leaders  of  the  Liberal 
and  Socialist  parties,  has  inspired  the  directors  of 
the  Comite  National  de  Secours  et  de  Ravitaillement 
with  a  spirit  of  benevolent  neutrality  to  which 
we  gladly  pay  tribute.     We  are  obeying  a  senti- 
ment of  loyalty  when  we  affirm  that  the  Central 
National  Committee  has  given  us  in  many  in- 
stances what  is  better  than  verbal  declarations  — 
namely,  effective  proofs  of  its  care  for  neutrality. 
But,  just  as  before  the  war  politicians  used  to 
brave  authority  and  at  times  vied  with  one  an- 
other  in   evading   the   laws,  certain    individuals, 
whom    a    member    of    the    General    Committee 
described  as  "persons  of  inferior  mentality,"  are 
even  to-day  incapable  of  ridding  themselves   of 
sectarianism,  and  show  greater  concern  for  their 
own  future  influence  with  the  electorate  than  for 
national    union.      You    must    not    capitulate    to 
these   individuals.     Whether  it  is   a   question  of 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  229 

education,  charitable  enterprises  or  religion,  be 
firm  and  persevering  in  the  defence  of  the  souls 
of  the  children,  the  interests  of  the  poor,  and  the 
rights  of  Catholic  families.  True  fortitude, 
fortitudo  christia7ia,  declares  itself  in  action. 
Calmly  and  unflinchingly  insist  that  your  rights 
prevail;  go  and  plead  your  cause,  if  necessary, 
before  the  Central  Committee.  And,  when  you 
have  exhausted  in  vain  all  the  means  of  resistance 
that  are  at  your  disposal,  come  to  us,  and  we 
shall  leave  nothing  undone  to  secure  recognition 
for  the  justice  of  our  common  cause.  The  in- 
terests which  you  defend  are  not  your  own,  but 
those  of  God  and  of  His  Church.  You  have, 
therefore,  no  right  to  abandon  their  defence. 
Hear  what  Jeanne  de  Chantal  says  of  the  meek 
St.  Francis,  whom  she  knew  so  intimately:  "Our 
very  dear  father  was  the  bravest,  most  generous 
and  powerful  soul  that  one  could  have  seen  in 
discharging  the  tasks  and  labors,  and  in  pursuing 
the  enterprises  with  which  God  inspired  him.  He 
never  became  disheartened,  and  used  to  say  that, 
when  Our  Saviour  commits  a  task  to  us,  we  must 
not  abandon  it,  but  have  the  courage  to  overcome 
all  difficulties."  ^ 

My  dear  Colleagues,  after  the  example  of  the 
great  Bishop  under  whose  patronage  we  are 
assembled,  be  meek  and  humble  of  heart.  But  do 
not  be  weak  or  timid;   be  strong. 

^  Letter  of  St.  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  on  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 


230  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

One  of  the  main  reasons  for  the  relative  sterility 
of  numerous  lives  is  because  the  faithful  and 
priests  do  not  arouse  themselves  to  a  sufficiently 
clear  recognition  of  the  resources  which  the 
Christian  soul  and  sacerdotal  zeal  have  at  their 
disposal  for  the  attainment  of  good.  Do  not 
confound  pride  and  bravery,  or  pusillanimity  and 
humihty.  St.  Paul  says:  "For  not  he  who  com- 
mendeth  himself,  is  approved;"  ^  but  he  has  said 
elsewhere:  *'I  can  do  all  things  in  Him  who 
strengtheneth  me."  ^  God  has  given  you  the 
grace  to  live  in  the  most  tragic  epoch  of  our  his- 
tory. Forge  yourselves  virile  souls.  Courage, 
like  all  the  virtues,  is  acquired  and  developed  by 
exercise.  You  have  heavy  responsibilities,  but 
let  them  not  make  you  timorous.  "If  God  puts 
ten  pounds  on  a  man,"  says  an  English  writer, 
"He  gives  him  strength  to  bear  twenty."  The 
essential  thing  is  that  you  proceed  conscious  of 
your  dependence  on  God.  His  arm  will  raise 
you  to  the  level  of  each  task.  "Commit  thy  way 
to  the  Lord,"  says  the  Psalmist,^  "and  trust  in 
Him,  and  He  will  do  it." 

CHARITY 

Meekness  and  humility,  patience  and  courage, 
have  their  roots  in  charity.  After  the  example 
of  St.   Francis  de  Sales,  who  emulates  St.   Paul, 

1  //  Corinthians  x.  18. 
^  Philippians  iv.  13. 
^  Psalm  xxxvi.  5. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  23  I 

center  all  your  energies  in  charity:  make  your- 
selves all  things  to  all  men.  "O  God,  who  didst 
will  that  St.  Francis,  Thy  Confessor  and  Pontiff, 
should  become  all  things  to  all  men  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  graciously  grant  that,  infused  with 
the  sweetness  of  Thy  charity,  we  may  attain 
everlasting  bhss." 

To-day  the  general  law  of  charity  should  regu- 
late especially  our  relations  with  those  who  have 
become  our  enemies,  our  relations  with  certain 
fellow-citizens  who  allow  their  selfish  interests  to 
compromise  national  union,  and  our  relations 
towards  our  country. 

/.    Charity  towards  our  Enemies 

Catholics  in  other  countries,  who  have  not 
found  in  their  hearts  one  word  of  reprobation  for 
the  German  armies  when  they  massacred  the 
innocent  inhabitants  of  Dinant,  Virton,  Andenne, 
Tamines,  Aerschot,  and  Louvain,  shot  our  priests, 
and  set  fire  to  our  open  towns  and  defenseless 
villages;  who  have  propagated,  or  allowed  to  be 
propagated,  the  calumny  which  sought  to  absolve 
the  criminals  by  transforming  the  victims  into 
guilty  parties;  who,  with  folded  arms,  unmoved 
looks  and  closed  lips,  have  now  looked  on  for 
almost  three  years  at  the  torture  of  a  formerly 
friendly  people,  who  had  never  wished  Germany 
anything  but  good  —  these  same  Catholics  dis- 
cover to-day  pathetic  accents  to  compose  hymns 


232  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

to  Christian   brotherhood,   to   the   burial   of  the 
past  and  to  peace. 

Confused  notions  are  afloat  as  to  our  relations 
in  justice  and  charity  towards  the  enemy  of  the 
Belgian  fatherland,  and  the  occasion  is  propitious 
for  recalling  some  points  in  the  doctrine  of  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas,  the  master  par  excellence  of 
Christian  philosophy  and  theology. 

There  are  two  deep  propensities  in  the  heart 
of  man  —  one  towards  joy  and  the  other  towards 
anger.  The  first  has  for  its  object  the  possession 
of  a  good,  and  joy  is  the  fruit  of  this  possession. 
The  second  propensity  has  for  its  object  the 
removal  of  an  evil,  or  the  revolt  against  this  evil 
when  it  has  settled  on  us. 

These  two  propensities  are  met  with  in  the 
animal  kingdom  and  in  man.  In  the  case  of 
animals,  they  occur  in  the  state  of  need  and  of 
passion;  in  the  case  of  man,  they  are  found  both 
in  the  state  of  need  and  passion  and  in  the  state 
of  rational  inclination. 

Our  propensity  towards  pleasure,  whether 
sensible  or  supra-sensible,  is  outside  the  ques- 
tion which  now  concerns  us.  Our  propensity 
towards  anger  and  vengeance  —  the  animal  pas- 
sion or  the  rational  inclination  of  the  will  —  alone 
interests  us  here. 

St.  Thomas  defines  anger  as  an  "appetite  for 
vengeance"  {ira  est  appetitus  vindictce).  This 
appetite  may  have  its  seat  in  the  sensible  part  of 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  233 

our  nature,  or  in  the  super-sensitive  will.     How 
are  we  to  judge  it  from  the  moral  standpoint? 

It  may  be  either  good  or  bad,  says  St.  Thomas; 
it  may  occasion  an  act  of  virtue  or  a  sin,  according 
as  the  object  of  the  vengeful  will  is  just  and  proper 
or  otherwise.  "To  have  the  will  to  avenge  evil, 
while  respecting  the  order  of  justice,  is  to  perform 
an  act  of  virtue.  To  will  thus  to  redress  a  moral 
evil,  within  the  limits  of  right,  is  to  feel  anger  at 
evil,  to  perform  a  work  of  zeal,  to  act  well." 

But  to  desire  vengeance  inordinately,  "whether 
we  transcend  the  hmits  of  justice  or  seek  first  the 
extermination  of  the  guilty  party  and  the  re- 
pression of  evil  only  as  an  afterthought,  is  to  do 
evil.  In  this  latter  case,  the  suffering  of  our 
neighbor  becomes  the  aim  of  our  vengeance." 

And  how  must  we  judge  the  participation  of 
passion  in  this  vengeful  anger?  Does  the  moral 
law  require  that  the  will  to  avenge  an  evil  be 
impassive?  St.  Thomas  declares  the  contrary. 
Passion  is  undoubtedly  dangerous  at  the  moment 
when  a  man  is  to  pass  judgment  on  the  morality 
of  a  contemplated  act,  as  it  may  then  indeed 
disturb  the  calmness  of  his  judgment.  But  from 
the  moment  when  the  justice  of  the  repressive 
act  is  apparent  and  the  morality  of  the  repres- 
sion has  been  decided,  the  passion  accompanying 
the  anger  becomes  the  auxiHary  of  the  will,  and 
lends  more  vigor  and  promptness  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  justice.    When  thus  confined  to  their 


234  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

proper  role,  passions  are,  says  St.  Thomas,  useful 
for  virtue  (utiles  virtuti)} 

The  application  of  these  principles  to  the  situa- 
tion which  confronts  us  is  apparent.  The  in- 
justice of  the  violation  of  our  territory  is  flagrant, 
and  is  even  admitted  by  its  authors.     The  scorn 

1  The  preceding  paragraphs  are  taken,  almost  verbatim,  from 
different  passages  of  the  superb  opusculum  of  St.  Thomas,  entitled 
"De  Malo."  The  following  are  the  principal  texts  on  which  our 
argument  is  based:  "In  ira  sicut  in  qualibet  alia  passions,  duo  pos- 
sumus  considerare:  unum  quod  est  quasi  formate,  aliud  quod  est  quasi 
materiale.  Formale  quidem  in  ira  est  id  quod  est  ex  parte  animae 
appetitivae,  quod  scilicet  ira  sit  appetitus  vindictae;  materiale  autem 
id  quod  pertinet  ad  commotionem  corporalem.  .  .  .  Ita  ergo,  si  con- 
sideretur  ira  secundum  id  quod  est  formale  in  ea,  sic  potest  esse  et  in 
appetitu  sensitive  et  in  appetitu  intellectivo  qui  est  voluntas,  secundum 
quam  aliquis  potest  velle  sumere  vindictam;  et  secundum  hoc  mani- 
festum  est  quod  ira  potest  esse  et  bona  et  mala. 

"  Manifestum  est  enim  quod  quando  aliquis  quaerit  vindictam  se- 
cundum debitum  justitiae  ordinem,  hoc  est  virtutis,  puta,  cum  vin- 
dictam quaerit  ad  correctionem  peccati,  servato  ordine  juris;  et  hoc  est 
irasci  contra  peccatum. 

Cum  autem  aliquis  inordinate  appetit  vindictam,  est  peccatum: 
vel  quia  quaerit  vindictam  praeter  ordinem  juris,  vel  quia  quaerit 
vindictam  magis  intendens  exterminationem  peccantis  quam  aboli- 
tionem  peccati;  et  hoc  est  irasci  in  fratrem. 

Ira  et  aliae  passiones  dupliciter  se  possunt  habere  ad  judicium 
rationis:  uno  modo,  antededenter;  et  sic  necesse  est  ut  semper  ira  et 
omnis  hujus  modi  passio  judicium  rationis  impediat,  quia  anima 
maxime  judicare  potest  veritatem  in  tranquillitate  quadam  mentis; 
alio  modo,  potest  se  habere  ira  ad  judicium  rationis,  ut  consequenter; 
quia  scilicet  postquam  ratio  dijudicavit  et  ordinavit  modum  vindictae, 
tunc  passio  insurgit  ad  exequendum;  et  sic  ira  et  aliae  hujusmodi  pas- 
siones non  impediunt  judicium  rationis  quia  jam  prcecessit;  sed  magis 
adjuvant  ad  promptius  exquendum,  et  in  hoc  sunt  utiles  virtuti;  unde 
Gregorius  die  it:  Tunc  ira  robustius  contra  vitia  erigitur,  cum  subdita 
rationi  famulatur."  —  "  De  Malo,"  q.  XII.  art  I. 

"Si  aliquis  appetat  quod,  secundum  ordinem  rationis,  flat  vindicta, 
est  laudabilis  irae  appetitus,  et  vocatur  ira  per  zelum."  "  Summ. 
Theol."  2a  2ae,  q.  158.  art.  2. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  235 

shown  for  our  rights  from  the  fatal  days  of  the 
first  invasion  of  our  country  to  the  present  hour 
is  incontestable.  The  repression  of  these  iniquities 
is  thus  a  manifest  right,  and  is  moreover  a  duty 
for  those  who  have  the  means  of  repressing  them. 
To  wish  that  this  duty  be  exercised,  that  order 
be  reestabhshed,  that  the  authors  of  the  disorder 
be  chastised  and  reduced  to  a  condition  of  power- 
lessness  to  injure  us  further;  to  wish  that  inof- 
fensive people  shall  have  the  opportunity  of  living 
in  peace,  that  the  final  decision  shall  accord  with 
right  and  the  vindication  of  the  God  of  justice  — 
to  desire  this  with  all  the  energy  of  our  will  and 
with  all  the  passionate  ardor  of  which  our  human 
nature  is  capable,  is  simply  to  correspond 
with  the  plea  of  justice,  to  perform  an  act  of 
virtue. 

But,  some  people  object,  this  is  the  same  as 
hatred,  and  charity  excludes  hatred. 

Assuredly  charity  excludes  hatred.  Hatred  is 
the  contrary  of  charity.  They  are  as  mutually 
exclusive  as  fire  and  water,  and  it  is  impossible 
that  they  co-exist  in  the  same  person. 

But  what  is  hatred?  It  is  to  wish  someone 
evil  for  evil's  sake;  to  wish  that  our  neighbor 
should  suffer  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he 
may  suffer;  to  make  his  suffering  our  object  on 
which  our  wills  can  dwell  with  pleasure.  Such 
a  disposition  of  souls  would  be  grievously 
culpable. 


236  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

On  the  other  hand,  to  wish  a  physical  evil  to 
someone  who  has  committed  an  injustice  and 
obstinately  perseveres  in  his  unjust  course,  and 
to  wish  this  physical  evil,  not  as  an  end  in  itself, 
but  as  a  means  of  attaining  an  ulterior  moral 
end;  to  wish  that  the  guilty  should  suffer  so  that, 
under  the  pressure  of  suffering,  there  shall  come 
about  in  his  soul  the  conversion  which  he  refuses 
to  effect  voluntarily  —  this  is  not  to  hate  him, 
but  on  the  contrary  to  love  him  rationally.'^ 

"As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  desire  not  the 
death  of  the  wicked,  but  that  the  wicked  turn 
from  his  way,  and  live."  -  We  follow  the  teach- 
ing of  God;  we  do  not  desire  our  enemies  to  be 
excluded  from  Paradise,  but  we  wish  that  they 
shall  again  become  worthy  of  entering  into  it. 

"He  who  loves  well,  chastises  well,"  says  the 
proverb.  The  love  for  avenging  justice  may  be 
carried  to  excess  and  degenerate  into  cruelty, 
but  it  may   also  err  by  defect,   by  inflicting  on 

1  "  Vindicatio  fit  per  aliquod  poenale  malum  inflictum  peccanti. 
Si  vindicantis  intentio  feratur  principaliter  in  malum  illius  de  quo 
vindictam  sumit,  ut  ibi  quiescat,  est  omnino  illicita;  quia  delectari  in 
malo  alterius  pertinet  ad  odium,  quod  charitati  repugnat.  Si  vero 
intentio  vindicantis  feratur  principaliter  in  aliquod  bonum,  ad  quod 
pervenitur  per  poenam  peccantis,  puta  ad  emendationem  peccantis,  vel 
saltem  ad  cohibitionem  ejus  et  quietum  aliorum,  et  ad  justitiae  con- 
servationem,  et  Dei  honorem,  potest  esse  vindicatio  licita,  aliis 
debitis  circumstantiis  servatis."  "Summ.  Theol."  2a  2ae  q.  108, 
art.  I. 

^  "  Vivo  ego,  dicit  Dominus  Deus,  nolo  mortem  impii;  sed  ut  con- 
vertatur  impius  a  via  sua,  et  vivat.  Convertimini,  eonvertimini  a 
viis  vestris  pessimis."     Ezechiel  xxxiii.  11. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  237 

the   guilty  less    punishment    than    the    occasion 
merits.^ 

Virtue  is  always  the  exact  mean  between  ex- 
tremes. The  will  to  avenge  an  evil  is  properly 
a  virtue.  St.  Thomas  considers  it  as  a  special 
virtue  which  completes  in  each  of  us  our  natural 
repulsion  for  everything  hurtful  to  us,  makes  us 
repel  an  injury  which  menaces  us,  and  incites  us 
to  take  vengeance  for  it  after  we  have  received 
it.  What  would  you  say  of  a  man  who,  under 
the  pretext  of  kindness,  would  endeavor  to  close 
all  prisons  and  suppress  the  penal  code? 

The  collective  crime  of  a  nation  which  violates 
the  rights  of  another  nation  is  incomparably  more 
grave  than  the  crime  of  an  individual  whom 
society  sends  to  the  guillotine  or  the  scaffold. 
We  well  understand  that  those  who  doubt  the 
justice  of  their  cause  seek  to  see  in  war  only  sub- 
jects for  pity  or  horror.  But  for  us  war  is  the 
means  of  making  honor  respected  and  right  tri- 
umph, and  of  reestablishing  on  a  pinnacle  truth 
and  the  worship  of  the  God  who  is  Truth.  Herein 
lies  the  grandeur  and  nobility  of  war  and  the 
justification  of  all  its  sacrifices. 

Let  us  therefore  not  confound  hatred,  a  vice, 
with  the  spirit  of  just  vengeance,  a  virtue.    Hatred 

1  "  Vindicationi  opponuntur  duo  vitia:  unum  quideni  per  exces- 
sum,  scilicet  peccatum  crudelitatis,  vel  saevitiae,  quae  excedit  men- 
suram  in  puniendo;  aliud  autem  est  vitium  quod  consistit  in  defectu, 
sicut  cum  aliquis  est  nimis  remissus  in  puniendo.^'  "Summ.  Theol." 
2a  2ae,  q.  108,  art.  2,  ad.  3. 


238  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

is  inspired  by  an  instinct  of  destruction.  The 
virtue  of  vengeance  is  inspired  by  charity.  Bravery 
paves  the  way  for  its  advance,  by  banishing  terror 
from  the  heart.  Our  King,  our  Government,  and 
the  Belgian  people  have  shown  their  fortitude  on 
August  2,  1914,  at  midnight,  when  they  braved 
the  insolence  of  the  military  colossus  which  now 
bestrides  us. 

Having  banished  terror,  the  upright  soul  looks 
straight  to  his  duty.  An  injury  has  been  done  to 
truth,  justice,  and  God,  and  he  considers  it  done 
to  himself.  The  peril  of  his  brothers  becomes  his 
own.  The  flame  of  the  twofold  love  of  God  and 
humanity  is  lighted  within  him,  and  he  decides 
to  sacrifice  himself  in  their  defense,  preferring 
anything  rather  than  a  dishonorable  desertion  of 
his  duty. 

In  all  this  we  can  see  only  charity  and  the  zeal 
which  is  its  flame.  The  Belgian  people  resolved 
on  this  grand  act  of  charity;  it  has  remained 
faithful  to  its  choice;  its  tears,  its  strength,  its 
fortune  and  its  blood  did  not  seem  too  great  a 
price  to  pay  for  the  triumph  of  right  and  to  safe- 
guard its  independence.^ 

But  perhaps  someone  will  say:  "You  have  in- 
voked strict  right,  and  we  understand  your  posi- 

^  "  Fortitudo  disponit  ad  vindictam  removendo  prohibens,  scilicet 
timorem  periculi  imminentis.  Zelus  autem,  secundum  quod  importat 
fervorem  amoris,  importat  primam  radicem  vindicationis,  prout  aliquis 
vindicat  injurias  Dei  vel  proximorum,  quas  ex  charitate  reputat  quasi 
suas."     "Summ.  Theol."  2,  2,  q.  108,  Art.  2,  ad.  2. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  239 

tion.  But  there  is  another  point  of  view  —  that 
of  Christian  perfection.  Is  it  not  more  perfect 
to  return  good  for  evil  ?  Should  not  the  Christian 
know  how  to  pardon?" 

To  return  good  for  evil  may  be  preferable  in 
the  case  of  individual  wrongs,  secretly  inflicted. 
But,  viewing  the  matter  in  a  practical  light,  you 
have,  my  dear  Colleagues,  in  the  parishes  of  your 
deaneries  hundreds  of  ravaged,  pillaged,  and 
burned  hearths;  the  absent  ones  of  your  con- 
gregations, whether  deported  as  military  or  civilian 
prisoners,  are  legion.  Is  it  to  avenge  these  per- 
sonal wrongs  that  your  people  demand  justice? 
In  the  name  of  my  experience,  and  no  less  confident 
of  yours,  I  venture  to  answer:  "No." 

It  is  the  injury  done  to  the  nation  which  has 
evoked  general  indignation  and  demands  repara- 
tion. The  crimes  against  public  order  cannot 
remain  unpunished.  A  prince  who  would  exer- 
cise clemency  systematically,  would  compromise 
pubHc  security.  A  people  who  would  hold  an 
amnesty  with  injustice,  would  be  unworthy  of 
liberty. 

The  Gospel,  it  is  true,  always  inclines  towards 
forgiveness.  But  the  Church  knows  on  what 
conditions  she  may  dispense  it.  Let  us  imitate 
her  example.  She  demands  from  the  sinner  the 
confession  of  his  fault;  repentance;  the  promise 
not  to  relapse  again  into  his  error;  if  he  has  done 
an  injustice,  the  promise  to  make  restitution  in 


240  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

accordance  with  the  well-known  declaration  of 
St.  Augustine:  '^Non  remittetur  peccatum,  nisi 
restituatur  ablatum.  Let  no  sin  be  remitted  unless 
that  which  was  taken  away  be  restored";  and 
finally  the  acceptance  of  a  penance  in  satis- 
faction of  the  penalties  due  for  the  offences  com- 
mitted. 

As  soon  as  our  enemies  shall  have  fulfilled  these 
conditions,  the  hour  of  mercy  will  have  struck  for 
them. 

Certain  sentimental  souls  grow  uneasy  at  times 
when  they  remember  the  text:  "But  if  one  strike 
thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  also  the 
other."  ^  If  you  wish  to  understand  fully  the 
meaning  of  this  evangehcal  counsel,  consider,  says 
St.  Augustine,  the  example  of  our  Lord  Himself. 
While  our  Divine  Master  was  submitting  to  the 
interrogation  of  Caiaphas,  an  officer  ventured  to 
strike  Him.  Our  meek  Saviour  did  not  answer: 
"Here  is  the  other  cheek."  He  offered  this 
dilemma  to  the  guilty  man:  "If  I  have  spoken 
evil,  give  testimony  of  the  evil;  but  if  well,  why 
strikest  thou  Me?"  ^ 

St.  Paul  the  Apostle  also,  says  St,  Augustine, 
was  scourged  in  public  by  order  of  Ananias, 
prince  of  the  priests.  Did  the  accused  receive 
the  blows  in  silence?  "God  shall  strike  thee, 
thou  whited  wall.     For  sittest  thou  to  judge  me 

1  Matthew  v.  39. 
*  John  xviii.  23. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  24I 

according  to  the  law,  and  contrary  to  the  law 
commandest  me  to  be  struck."  ^ 

This  retort  was  accompanied  by  words  of  biting 
irony. 

Consequently  the  above-mentioned  scriptural 
quotation  should  not  be  interpreted  strictly  ac- 
cording to  the  letter.  It  means  that,  whatever 
happens,  we  must  remain  masters  of  ourselves, 
and  preserve  our  interior  patience.  As  to  our 
external  conduct,  that  will  depend  on  circum- 
stances. "Benevolence,  properly  understood, 
often  counsels  us  to  use  harshness  towards  our 
neighbor.  We  should  know  how  to  correct  him 
in  spite  of  himself  and  have  regard  for  his  real 
interest  rather  than  for  his  preferences." 

But  has  not  the  Lord  said  in  Deuteronomy: 
"Revenge  is  Mine,  and  I  will  repay  them."  ^ 
And  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans  does  not  St. 
Paul  give  the  same  advice:  "If  it  be  possible, 
as  much  as  is  in  you,  have  peace  with  all  men. 
Revenge  not  yourselves,  my  dearly  beloved;  but 
give  place  unto  wrath,  for  it  is  written:  Revenge 
is  Mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord."^ 

Evidently  these  inspired  texts  do  not  mean 
that  God  reserves  for  His  immediate  action  every 
exercise  of  repressive  justice,  seeing  that  in  this 
same    epistle   to    the    Romans    from   which    the 

^  Acts  xxiii.  3-5. 

*  Deuteronomy  xxxii.  35. 

'  Romans  xii.  18-19. 


242  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

above  words  are  taken,  the  Apostle  declares  ex- 
pressly that  the  representative  of  public  power 
"beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain.  For  he  is  God's 
minister:  an  avenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him 
that  doth  evil."  ^ 

According  to  St.  Thomas,  the  meaning  of  these 
texts  of  Scripture  is  as  follows:  External  offenses 
fall  under  the  repressive  power  of  the  public 
authorities,  but  in  the  case  of  hidden  faults  I 
reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  judging  and  punish- 
ing them.  And  you  Christians  do  not  form  pre- 
mature judgments:  "Judge  not  before  the  time."^ 

Or  perhaps,  says  the  holy  doctor,  the  texts 
may  have  this  other  meaning:  "The  crimes  of 
men  offend  God.  So  it  is  to  God  that  justice  and 
reparation  are  due.  It  is  to  usurp  a  divine  pre- 
rogative, to  claim  for  one's  self  the  intention  of 
justice.    ** 

One  last  question  may  be  considered.  Does  it 
befit  the  clergy  to  take  part  in  conflicts  which 
are  brought  about  by  the  war  and  occupation? 
Are  not  the  bishop  and  his  priests  to  devote  them- 

1  Romans  xiii.  4. 

^  /  Corinthians  iv.  5. 

^  "  Circa  vindictam  Deus  aliquid  sibi  soli  retinuit.  Injerre  enim 
vindictam  in  manifestis  delictis,  aliis  commisit  qui  constituuntur  in 
ordine  alicujus  potestatis.  ...  De  occultis  vera  sibi  soli  judicium  et 
vindictam  reservavit,  secundum  illud:   '  Nolite  ante  tempus  judicare.' 

"  Sibi  etiam  reservavit  Deus  ut  propter  seipsum  v indie aretur:  homo 
enim  non  debet  vindicari  propter  seipsum,  sed  propter  culpam  commis- 
sam,  quae  est  offensa  Dei.  ^uando  ergo  aliquis  quaerit  vindictam  propter 
seipsum,  vel  praeter  ordinem  judiciariae  potestatis,  usurpat  sibi  quod 
Dei  est."  —  "  De  Malo,"  q.  XII,  art.  3,  ad  5. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  243 

selves  exclusively  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
faithful? 

The  Church  is  not  an  invisible  society  composed 
of  pure  spirits.  The  faithful  are  exposed  to  perils 
of  the  body  and  of  the  soul,  of  time  and  eternity. 
The  solicitude  of  their  pastors  should  extend  to 
all  these  interests.  Listen  again  to  St.  Thomas: 
"The  pastors  of  the  Church  may  not  content 
themselves  with  resisting  the  wolves  which  cause 
the  spiritual  death  of  their  flock.  They  should 
also  oppose  the  ravishers  of  the  people,  and  tyrants 
who  cause  physical  suff^ering  to  their  flock.  Not 
that  the  representatives  of  ecclesiastical  authority 
should  themselves  handle  material  arms,  but  they 
should  make  use  of  spiritual  weapons  —  that  is 
to  say,  address  salutary  warnings  to  the  guilty 
parties,  pray  fervently  and  excommunicate  ob- 
stinate rebels."  ^ 

The  ambiguities  which  we  have  endeavored  to 
explain  away  in  this  discussion  of  charity  towards 
our  enemies  have  their  origin  in  an  inadequate 
conception  of  charity.  In  the  eyes  of  numerous 
persons  who  are  badly  instructed  in  the  Christian 
religion,  the  virtues  are  like  so  many  threads 
running   parallel   to   each   other   in   the  weaving 

^  "  Praelati  debent  resistere  non  solum  lupis,  qui  spiritualiter  inter- 
ficiunt  gregem,  sed  etiam  raptoribus  et  tyrannis  qui  corporaliter  vexant; 
non  autem  matenalibus  armis  in  propria  persona  utendo,  sed  spiritu- 
alibus,  quae  quidem  sunt  salubres  admonitiones,  devotae  orationes, 
contra  pertinaces  excommunicationis  sententia."  "  Summ.  Theol."  2,  2, 
q.  40,  art.  2,  ad  i. 


244  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

machine.  These  threads  differ  in  quahty  per- 
haps. Charity  may  even  be  conceded  a  superior 
quahty,  but  it  none  the  less  runs  parallel  to  the 
other  threads  of  the  warp.  One  can  understand 
how  the  mind  thus  accommodates  itself  to  the 
idea  of  a  charity  without  justice,  and  how 
a  means  should  be  then  sought  of  reconciling 
them. 

But  the  above  analogy  is  not  at  all  in  accordance 
with  reality.  Charity  is  the  woof  which  forms  a 
single  tissue  out  of  all  the  threads  of  the  Chris- 
tian virtues.  All  virtues  may  be  included  in  a 
single  precept:  "Love  God  and  love  your  neigh- 
bor for  the  love  of  God."  Fundamentally  there 
is  only  one  virtue  —  the  love  of  God  for  His  own 
sake  and  the  love  of  one's  neighbor  for  the  love 
of  God.  The  Christian  should  be  temperate, 
strong,  just,  prudent,  but  through  charity;  he 
should  believe  in  God  and  hope  in  Him,  but  through 
charity.  He  should  practice  charity  through 
charity.  Charity  is  the  sole  inspiring  and  direct- 
ing force  of  all  moral  and  religious  hfe. 

There  is  no  Christian  justice  without  charity. 
There  is  no  charity  without  justice.  And  inas- 
much as  avenging  justice  is  a  part  of  the  virtue 
of  justice,  there  is  no  charity  without  avenging 
justice.  To  desire  to  close  one's  eyes  to  injustice 
under  the  pretext  of  an  heroic  charity;  to  grant 
impunity  to  the  crimes  of  an  enemy,  because  he 
is  an  enemy,  is  to  misunderstand  the  sovereign 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  245 

and  necessary  dominion  of  charity  over  the  or- 
ganization of  the  moral,  individual,  and  social 
life  of  Christianized  humanity.  If  we  praise  or 
ignore  the  faults  of  a  naughty  child,  we  are  spoil- 
ing him,  not  loving  him.  We  must  not  spoil 
either  our  enemies  or  our  friends. 

Charity  is  one,  but  the  mode  of  its  exercise 
varies  according  to  the  object  to  which  charity 
is  directed.  When  we  love  the  soul  of  a  just  man, 
we  desire  his  perseverance;  when  we  love  the 
soul  of  a  sinner,  we  desire  his  conversion.  Let  us 
imitate  our  holy  mother,  the  Church.  On  Good 
Friday  she  prays  for  her  faithful  children  and  also 
for  heretics  and  schismatics,  for  the  descendants 
of  the  chosen  people,  and  for  the  pagan  nations. 
But  for  the  first  she  asks  sanctity  and  progress; 
for  the  others  she  desires  repentance  and  the 
opening  of  their  eyes  to  the  light  of  truth. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark  that,  in  the  pul- 
pit and  in  the  spiritual  direction  of  souls,  too  great 
neglect  is  shown  of  this  law  which  governs  the 
contexture  of  the  Christian  virtues  in  the  tissue 
of  life.  This  neglect  leads  to  the  formation  of 
fragmentary  souls  who  are  acquainted  only  with 
partial  aspects  of  good,  and  of  devotional  souls  — 
the  world  often  calls  them  bigots  —  who  prac- 
tice their  charity  towards  God  under  the  form  of 
ritual  exercises,  but  who  do  not  make  of  this 
fundamental  virtue  the  soul  of  their  morality  and 
their  piety. 


246  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

In  the  pursuit  of  good  it  is  not  sufficient  to 
regulate  duly  the  attraction  of  pleasure  (temper- 
ance); to  brave  the  obstacles  which  are  opposed 
to  the  acquisition  or  possession  of  moral  good 
{strength  of  soul,  courage,  fortitude);  to  prac- 
tice good  and  resist  evil  in  such  a  way  as  not 
to  infringe  on  the  rights  of  others  {justice). 
The  virtues  must  be  exercised  within  reason- 
able limits,  without  excess  or  defect  —  with 
prudence} 

Prudence  thus  introduces  a  unity  in  the  perfect 
practice  of  good.  It  disposes  a  man  who  does 
good  to  do  it  well:  bonum  bene  facere.  But  the 
primordial  law  of  prudence  is  to  direct  man  to 
his  true  end  —  that  is,  to  his  supernatural  or 
Christian  end,  for  mankind  has  no  other.  Hence, 
the  sovereign  law  of  prudence  is  that  it  be  inspired 
by  charity.  Charity,  poured  into  the  soul  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  Baptism,  first  directs  the  will 
towards  our  true  end — God— whom  faith  reveals 
to  us  and  hope  makes  us  regard  as  our  Supreme 
Good.  Then,  it  imposes  on  supernaturalized 
prudence  the  duty  of  subordinating  to  God  all 
other  goods  outside  Himself,  as  so  many  means 
of  reaching  our  end.  Thoughts,  desires,  resolu- 
tions, works,  moral  virtues,  the  theological  vir- 
tues of  faith  and  hope  are  thus  placed  in  the 
service    of    charity,    the    unifying    principle    par 

1  All  moral  virtues,  as  is  known,  depend  on  the  four  "cardinal" 
or  fundamental  virtues  which  are  here  quoted. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  247 

excellence  of  the  whole  moral  and  rehgious  Ufe  of 
man  and  humanity.^ 

From  this  elevated  point  of  view,  which  alone 
can  be  considered  complete  and  true  (in  the  full 
meaning  of  this  word),  moral  or  religious  "par- 
ticularism" becomes  incomprehensible  in  a  Chris- 
tian life.  Opposition  between  patriotism  and 
justice,  between  justice  and  charity,  becomes 
devoid  of  meaning. 

Under  the  form  of  "habits,"  the  Christian 
virtues  appear,  increase  or  decrease,  and  dis- 
appear together.  Have  you  sufficiently  meditated 
on  this  unity  in  the  organization  of  the  Christian 
life,  its  extent,  its  harmony?  Have  you  con- 
sidered how  splendidly  this  order  reveals  itself 
in  the  individual  conscience  and  the  social  inter- 
course? Have  you,  in  a  word,  sufficiently  realized 
this  beauty  of  charity? 

Have  you  sufficiently  insisted  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  virtues  by  the  love  of  God  and 
held  up  the  elevation  and  fertility  of  Christian 
morality  to  the  admiration  of  the  people  ?    Whence 

^  S.  Thomas,  "Summ.  Theol.,"  i,  2,  qu.  65,  art.  2,  "  Aliae  virtutes 
morales  non  possunt  esse  sineprudentia;  prudentia  autem  non  potest 
esse  sine  virtutihus  moralibus  mquantum  virtutes  morales  faciunt  bene 
se  habere  ad  quosdam  fines,  ex  quibus  procedit  ratio  prudentiae.  Ad 
rectam  autem  rationem  prudentiae,  multo  magis  requiritur  quod  homo 
bene  se  habeat  circa  ultimum  finem,  quod  fit,  per  caritatem,  quam  circa 
alios  fines,  quod  fit  per  virtutes  morales.  Unde  manijestum  fit  quod  nee 
prudentia  infusa  potest  esse  sine  caritate;  nee  aliae  virtutes  morales 
consequenter,  quae  sine  prudentia  esse  non  possunt."  Cfr.  ibid., 
4  et  art.  5,  de  unione  fidei  et  spei  cum  caritate. 


248  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

comes  it  that  so  many  souls  lower  their  Chris- 
tianity to  the  level  of  naturalism?  Put  that 
question  to  yourselves,  directors  of  souls,  and 
supply  the  answer. 

//.    Charity  towards  our  Fellow-citizens 

You  are  aware  of  the  dissensions  wWch  have 
arisen  between  the  country  people  and  the  town 
folks,  and  between  merchants  and  customers  in 
consequence  of  the  increased  cost  of  food  and 
clothing.  It  is  not  easy  to  define  the  responsi- 
bihty  of  the  different  classes  in  these  matters. 
Justice  and  charity,  however,  are  both  concerned 
in  these  complex  problems.  As  to  the  questions 
of  justice  involved,  I  gave  you,  the  day  of  the 
meeting,  a  note  containing  some  general  sugges- 
tions which  you  can  turn  to  profitable  account, 
especially  in  the  confessional  and  in  your  con- 
versations with  the  parties  interested.  But  we 
must  not  forget  that  one  can  sin  otherwise  than 
by  committing  an  offense  against  commutative 
justice.  Charity  towards  individuals  and  legal 
justice  —  that  is  to  say,  respect  for  the  common 
good  —  are  also  binding  on  the  conscience,  and 
this  obligation  becomes  grave  according  to  the 
gravity  of  the  matter. 

In  the  pulpit  and  in  the  confessional,  insist  on 
the  practice  of  charity,  on  how  odious  it  is  to  see 
exorbitant  profits  made  at  the  expense  of  those 
who  are  in  poverty  or  want,  and  on  the  obliga- 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  249 

tion  of  avoiding  everything  that  provokes  hatred, 
jealousies,  and  rancor. 

///.    Charity  towards  our  Country 

Article  43  of  the  regulation  concerning  the  laws 
and  customs  of  war  on  land  added  to  the  Hague 
Convention,  October  18,  1907,  stipulates:  "The 
authority  of  legal  power  having  actually  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  occupying  party,  the  latter 
will  take  all  measures  within  his  power  to  re- 
establish and  assure,  in  so  far  as  is  possible,  public 
order  and  life,  while  respecting  the  laws  in  force 
in  the  country  except  in  so  far  as  he  is  absolutely 
prevented  from  doing  so" 

It  is  very  interesting  to  note  that  the  Plan  for 
an  International  Convention  presented  by  Russia 
at  the  Conference  of  Brussels  in  1874  permitted 
the  occupying  party  "to  maintain  the  laws  in 
force,  to  modify  them  or  suppress  them  entirely 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  war  and  with 
a  view  to  public  interest."  The  Conference,  how- 
ever, rejected  this  suggestion,  and  adopted  a  more 
restrictive  clause,  which  permitted  the  occupy- 
ing party  to  modify  or  suspend  the  laws  in  force 
only  "if  it  is  necessary."  The  regulation  added  to 
the  Hague  Convention,  July  29,  1899,  and  that 
added  to  the  Hague  Convention,  October  18, 
1907,  are  more  rigorous  still,  as  they  forbid  all 
modification  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  absolutely 
impossible   to    do    otherwise.     These    successive 


250  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

changes  of  wording  show  conclusively  the  mature 
and  determined  desire  of  the  signatories  to  impose 
on  the  occupying  party  respect  for  the  laws 
which  are  in  force  in  occupied  territory.  The  dele- 
gates from  Germany  were  the  first  signatories  of 
this  Article  43  of  the  Regulation  added  to  the 
Convention, 

Now  the  occupying  government  aims  at  the 
overthrow  of  the  general  administration  of  our 
country.  It  seems  to  have  taken  as  its  motto: 
"Divide  et  impera."  The  creation  of  the  so- 
called  University  of  Ghent,  the  administrative 
separation  which  has  existed  so  long  in  certain 
ministries  but  which  a  certain  recent  decree  has 
just  made  general,  the  public  or  clandestine  en- 
couragement given  to  journals  and  conventions 
(whether  of  thoughtless  Walloons  or  foolish 
Flemings)  which  foster  antagonism  between  the 
two  races  traditionally  united  under  the  Belgian 
flag,  represent  so  many  attempts  —  happily  futile 
—  to  disturb  our  national  union. 

Those  who  would  favor  such  equivocal  conduct 
would  be  traitors  to  their  native  land.  Questions 
of  internal  politics  concern  only  the  Belgians,  and 
can  be  decided  only  by  the  Belgian  Chambers, 
the  Belgian  Government  and  the  King  of  the 
Belgians. 

Be  watchful,  my  dear  Deans.  Make  the  faith- 
ful avoid  deceitful  writings  and  conventions. 
Watch  for  and  put  an  end  to  the  schemes  of  traitors 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  25  I 

who  would  make  common  cause  with  the  enemy. 
Restrain  the  extravagances  of  youth.  The  nation 
has  defied  violence;  let  her  beware  of  seduction. 
Patriotic  piety  is  a  virtue.  Your  state  of  Hfe  con- 
stitutes you  the  guardians  and  preachers  of  virtue. 

SERENITY 

"What  I  first  recognized  in  our  blessed  father," 
said  St.  Chantal,  "was  the  gift  of  a  very  perfect 
faith.  ...  I  have  always  seen  the  saint  aspire 
to  and  breathe  only  the  desire  to  live  according 
to  the  truths  of  faith  and  the  maxims  of  the 
Gospel.  He  used  to  say  that  the  true  way  to 
serve  God  was  to  follow  Him  and  walk  after  Him 
on  the  fine  point  of  the  soul,  without  any  sup- 
port of  consolation,  of  sentiment  or  light  ex- 
cept that  of  simple  and  naked  faith.  That 
is  why  he  loved  interior  weariness,  tribulation 
and  desolation."  ^ 

"If  I  wish  only  pure  water,"  says  St.  Francis 
de  Sales,  "what  matter  if  it  be  brought  to  me  in 
a  golden  vase  or  in  a  glass?  I  should  even  love 
it  better  in  the  glass,  because  there  is  then  no 
color  but  that  of  the  water,  and  I  see  it  thus  much 
better.  What  does  it  matter  if  the  will  of  God  is 
presented  to  me  in  tribulation  or  in  consolation, 
since  in  both  I  wish  and  seek  nothing  else  than 
the  Divine  Will,  which  is  shown  forth  all  the  more 
clearly  when  there  is  no  other  beauty  in  evidence 

^  Letter  of  St.  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  on  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 


252  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

than  that  of  the  holy  and  eternal  good  pleasure 
of  the  Lord."  ^ 

The  pious  Elizabeth  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  a 
Carmelite  nun  of  Dijon,  used  to  say  that  the 
Christian  has  nothing  to  do  with  secondary  causes, 
but  with  God  alone. 

And  does  the  Gospel  not  state:  "If  thy  eye  be 
single  [if  thy  eye  regard  but  one  thing,  is  fixed  by 
faith  on  God],  thy  whole  body  shall  be  light- 
some." ^  That  is,  thou  shalt  be  entirely  bathed 
in  light. 

Turn  your  thoughts  directly  to  your  God.  He 
is  the  sovereign  Master  of  events.  He  and  none 
other.  "I  am  the  Lord,  and  there  is  no  other."  ' 
Love  Him  for  He  loves  you.  He  is  love's  very 
substance.  He  has  begotten  you  in  His  only  Son 
in  whom  repose  all  His  favors.  He  is  a  father  to 
you.  Be  a  son  to  Him.  Love  Him,  and,  while 
hoping  that  it  will  be  granted  to  you  to  behold 
His  living  personality  in  glory,  adore  Him  in  the 
manifestations  of  His  Divine  Will.  Embrace 
these  manifestations,  each  and  all,  chanting  the 
eternal  hymn  of  filial  acquiescence:  "Our  Father, 
who  art  in  Heaven.  .  .  .  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven." 

How  far  should  our  surrender  to  the  divine 
love  extend? 

^  "  Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,"  lib.  ix,  cap.  iv. 
*  Matthew  vi.  22. 
'  Isaias  xlv.  18. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  253 

The  holy  bishop  will  tell  us.  He  brings  before 
our  eyes  the  little  Infant  Jesus  and  His  Blessed 
Mother,  and  the  dialogue  which  the  saint  holds 
with  the  Divine  Child  is  a  sublime  lesson  in 
spirituality. 

Here  is  a  preliminary  insight  into  the  idea  of 
perfect  renunciation:  "We,  little  children  of  the 
Heavenly  Father,  can  walk  with  Him  in  two  ways. 
In  the  first  place,  we  can  walk  with  Him  by 
following  the  way  of  our  own  will,  conforming 
this  will  to  His,  always  holding  the  hand  of  His 
divine  intention  with  the  hand  of  obedience,  and 
following  His  intention  whithersoever  it  leads 
us.  .  .  .  But  we  can  also  walk  with  our  Saviour 
without  having  any  will  of  our  own,  simply  allow- 
ing ourselves  to  be  borne  along  the  way  of  His 
divine  pleasure  (as  an  infant  is  borne  in  the  arms 
of  its  mother)  in  a  species  of  admirable  consent 
which  may  be  called  the  union,  or  better  still  the 
unity,  of  our  will  with  God's.  Thus  it  is  that  we 
should  endeavor  to  conduct  ourselves  towards 
the  divine  pleasure,  in  so  far  as  the  effects  of  this 
divine  pleasure  come  solely  from  Providence,  and 
have  not  their  origin  in  ourselves. 

*Tt  is  true  that  we  can  wish  events  to  happen 
in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God,  and  this  wish 
is  very  good.  But  we  may  well  also  accept  all 
events  sent  by  the  divine  pleasure  with  a  very 
simple  tranquillity  of  will,  which,  not  wishing 
anything    whatsoever    itself,    lends    a    complete 


254  CARDINAL   MERCIER 

acquiescence  in  everything  that  God  wishes  done 
in  us,  to  us  and  by  us." 

Some  pages  later  the  holy  doctor  declares  it 
very  difficult  to  define  clearly  the  extreme  indiffer- 
ence of  the  human  will  when  it  is  thus  submerged 
in  the  will  of  God.  It  is  not  an  "  acquiescence," 
for  that  is  an  action  of  the  soul  when  it  declares 
its  consent.  It  is  not  an  "acceptance,"  for  to 
accept  is  the  action  of  embracing  what  happens 
to  us.  It  is  not  a  ''permission,"  for  to  permit 
signifies  a  certain  sluggish  act  of  the  will,  which, 
while  unwilling  to  do  something  itself,  is  ready 
to  allow  its  performance  by  an  outside  agency. 
"It  appears  to  me  therefore  that  the  soul  which 
is  in  this  state  of  indifference,  and  which  wishes 
nothing,  but  lets  God  will  what  He  pleases,  might 
be  said  to  retain  its  will  in  a  state  of  simple  and 
general  expectancy  —  a  loving  expectancy  —  so 
much  the  more  so  as  to  await  is  not  to  do  or  to 
act,  but  to  be  ready  for  any  occurrence.  And,  if 
we  examine  it  closely,  the  expectancy  of  the  soul 
is  really  voluntary,  and  is  yet  not  an  action,  but 
a  simple  disposition  to  receive  whatever  will 
happen.  After  the  events  have  occurred,  the 
expectancy  is  converted  into  consent  or  acqui- 
escence, but  before  the  occurrence  the  soul  is 
really  only  in  a  simple  expectancy,  indifferent  as  to 
what  it  may  please  the  divine  pleasure  to  ordain." 

These  preliminary  ideas  stated,  the  pious  dia- 
logue of  the  saint  with  the  Infant  Jesus  follows: 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  255 

"If  anyone  had  asked  the  sweet  Infant  Jesus, 
as  He  was  borne  along  in  the  arms  of  His  Mother, 
whither  He  was  going,  would  He  not  rightly  have 
answered:  'I  am  not  going;  My  Mother  is  going 
for  Me.' 

"And  if  He  had  been  asked:  'But  are  you  not 
at  least  going  with  Your  Mother,'  would  He  not 
have  rightly  replied:  'No,  I  do  not  go  at  all,  or 
if  I  do  go  where  My  Mother  carries  Me,  I  do  not 
go  with  her  nor  by  any  steps  of  My  own,  but  I 
go  by  the  steps  of  My  Mother,  by  her  and  in 
her.' 

"And  if  He  were  questioned  still  further:  'But 
at  least,  O  dear  Divine  Child,  You  will  to  allow 
Yourself  to  be  carried  by  Your  sweet  Mother?' 
'Not  so,  by  any  means,'  He  would  have  said,  'I 
will  nothing  of  that,  but,  inasmuch  as  My  dear 
Mother  walks  for  Me,  she  also  wills  for  Me;  I 
leave  her  alike  the  care  of  going  and  of  willing 
to  go  for  Me  wherever  she  pleases.  And,  as  I 
walk  only  by  her  steps,  I  also  will  only  through 
her  will;  and,  as  long  as  I  am  in  her  arms,  I  do 
not  intend  to  will  or  not  to  will,  leaving  to  My 
Mother  every  other  care,  provided  I  remain  at 
her  bosom,  am  nourished  at  her  breast,  and  cling 
to  her  adorable  neck  where  I  can  kiss  her  lovingly 
with  My  lips.  .  .  .  That  is  the  reason  why,  just 
as  her  walking  suffices  for  her  and  for  Me,  without 
My  taking  a  single  step,  her  will  also  suffices  for 
her  and  for  Me,  without  My  forming  a  wish  for 


256  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

anything  that  is  to  come  or  to  go.  Consequently, 
I  am  indifferent  whether  she  goes  quickly  or 
leisurely,  or  whether  she  goes  in  this  direction  or 
that,  nor  do  I  ever  inquire  whither  she  wishes  to 
go,  resting  content  that,  whatever  happens,  I  am 
always  in  her  arms.' 

"O  divine  Child  of  Mary,  grant  to  my  wretched 
soul  this  transport  of  devotion.  And  go  then,  O 
beloved  and  adorable  Infant  —  or  rather  do  not 
go,  but  remain  —  thus  hohly  clasped  to  the  bosom 
of  your  sweet  Mother.  Go  always  in  her  and 
through  her,  or  with  her,  and  never  go  without 
her  in  the  days  of  Thy  childhood.  Blessed  is 
the  womb  that  bore  Thee  and  the  paps  that  gave 
Thee  suck!" 

After  reminding  us  that  our  Saviour  had  the 
use  of  reason  from  the  moment  of  His  concep- 
tion, and  could  thus  hold  the  discourses  which 
have  just  been  attributed  to  Him,  St.  Francis 
turns  to  his  disciple,  Theotimus,  and  continues: 

"We  should  be  like  that,  Theotimus,  rendering 
ourselves  flexible  and  plastic  to  the  divine  pleas- 
ure, as  if  we  were  of  wax  —  not  amusing  ourselves 
desiring  and  wishing  for  things,  but  letting  them 
be  wished  and  done  by  God  just  as  it  pleases 
Him,  referring  to  Him  (as  the  Apostle  says)  all 
our  solicitude  inasmuch  as  He  has  care  of  us. 
Notice  that  he  says  all  our  solicitude  —  that  is 
to  say,  both  our  solicitude  over  the  outcome  of 
events  and  our  solicitude  in  willing  and  not  willing. 


CHRISTIAN    VENGEANCE  257 

For  He  will  take  care  of  the  success  of  our  aflFairs, 
and  will  will  for  us  whatever  is  best. 

"Let  it  be  our  constant  care  to  bless  God  for 
whatever  He  shall  do,  saying  like  Job:  'The  Lord 
has  given  me  much,  the  Lord  has  taken  it  away. 
Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  No,  Lord,  I 
wish  for  nothing,  but  leave  everything  for  You  to 
will  according  to  Your  good  pleasure;  and,  instead 
of  willing  any  events,  I  will  bless  You  because 
You  have  willed  them.  O  Theotimus,  how  excel- 
lent is  this  occupation  of  our  will,  when,  relinquish- 
ing all  preference  as  to  how  the  divine  pleasure 
may  manifest  itself,  it  takes  up  the  task  of  prais- 
ing and  thanking  the  divine  pleasure  for  all  its 
manifestations!"  ^ 

CONCLUSION 

My  dear  Colleagues,  let  us  draw  inspiration 
from  these  noble  teachings.  Let  us  raise  our- 
selves above  our  impressions,  above  our  reason- 
ings and  conjectures,  above  the  clouds  which 
envelop  our  poor  human  conceptions,  to  that 
serene  sphere  where  the  soul,  rid  of  its  passions 
and  of  itself,  finds  itself  untrammeled  in  the 
presence  of  the  divine  pleasure. 

Every  day  has  its  own  trials.  The  practice  of 
moral  virtues  varies  with  circumstances.  At  the 
present  moment,  meekness,  fortitude,  and  serenity, 
assembled   in   the  warm    atmosphere   of  charity, 

^  "Treatise  on  the  Love  of  God,"  lib.  ix,  cap.  xiv-xv. 


258  CARDINAL    MERCIER 

are  especially  necessary  for  us.  We  have  the 
divine  mission  of  sustaining  and  encouraging  our 
people.  Whatever  be  the  human  motives  for  our 
confidence  in  the  future  —  and  you  now  feel, 
more  than  ever,  that  they  are  justified  —  let  us 
seek  for  better.  After  the  example  of  Moses  — 
who,  according  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  had 
as  lively  a  faith  in  God  as  if  he  had  seen  Him 
with  his  eyes  "By  faith  ...  he  endured  as 
seeing  Him  that  is  invisible,"^  let  us  in  fiHal 
fashion  deliver  our  whole  souls  to  God.  Let  this 
faith  inspire  our  judgments  and  temper  our  wills. 
Immovable  ourselves,  we  shall  sustain  our  breth- 
ren. The  Belgian  people  has  not  flinched;  with 
the  grace  of  God,  it  will  not  flinch.  Its  serenity 
will  continue  unaltered  to  the  end  of  this  harsh 
and  prolonged  trial;  it  will  console  our  absent 
ones,  thank  our  benefactors,  encourage  our  soldiers, 
bless  our  Allies,  and  make  its  obeisance  before 
His  Majesty,  King  Albert.  Until  the  end,  this 
serenity  will  be  our  expression  of  defiance  to  our 
oppressors,  our  daily  act  of  patriotism,  the 
homage  of  Belgium  to  the  wisdom,  the  good- 
ness, the  justice,  and  the  mercy  of  God. 

^  Hebrews  xi.  27. 
THE    END 


D622  M47 

Mercier,  D  esir  e,  1851- 

1926. 
Cardinal  Mercier 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA       001  327  348 


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